Gods of Dark and Light
by Darth Marrs
Summary: What happens when the Ori, a race of godlike ascended beings who are currently rampaging through the Stargate Universe, suddenly arrive in a Galaxy Far Far Away? Any who do not follow the path of Origin must be destroyed.
1. Prologue: The Seeds of Forever

**The Gods of Dark and light**

A Star Wars/Stargate Crossover

What happens when the Ori, a god-like race of ascended beings currentl rampaging through the Star Gate Universe come to the Galaxy Far Far Away? Those who do not follow the path of Origin must be destroyed.

Characters: Everyone I could find in the Star Wars Universe. And the Ori.

**Prologue: The Seeds of Forever (A Long Time Ago, In a Galaxy Far, Far Away)**

The ship appeared with a flash of hyper-spatial radiation that many millennia in the future would be labeled after a sentient name Cronau, who thought himself brilliant for discovering something that had been known and documented before his race even discovered space travel.

Almost immediately upon emergence into real space, the massive craft began listing, and soon the listing turned into a completely uncontrolled tumble. Toward the rear of the elongated oval ship, brief bursts of orange flame marked ruptures in the hull. The explosive out-gassing and flames acted like weak thrusters, further disrupting the ship's flight path.

Inside the dying craft's bridge, a desperate captain shouted to his navigator: "Where are we?"

"Unknown galaxy," the navigator called back. "The enemy struck as we were entering hyperspace. We super-accelerated to intergalactic speeds."

"Ship status?"

The navigator turned, her brows creased and her lips white. "Sir, she's done for. There's nothing I can do."

The captain nodded his acceptance of the navigator's word. He would sense a lie as surely as he could sense the navigator's distress. "Is there any hope Atlantis was able to track us?"

"I don't see how, Captain," the navigator said. "We're four galaxies away." She left her station as, through the view port, the stars spun chaotically with the tumbling of the ship. "And we both know that the Wraith are moving on Atlantis. They won't be able to save us."

"There's a habitable planet nearby!" sciences called out. The view port blinked as the ship's fading sensors honed in on a jewel of a planet, shining with the same green vibrancy and beauty as their lost home world.

"Can we make it in our jumpers?" the captain said.

"With only a few days flight," sciences replied. "But captain, we never established gates in this galaxy, and the jumpers aren't hyperspace enabled. We will be trapped there."

The captain gave a decisive nod and stood. "It's better than the alternative. Without thruster control, this ship will tear itself apart in minutes. Give the order to abandon ship; we'll make best speed to the planet and worry about the next step after we survive this one."

* * *

Rev 7.5.2011


	2. Chap 1: From the Jundland Wastes

**Chapter One: From the Jundland Wastes (Thousands of Years Later)**

Jabba the Hut was dead. Mos Eisley seethed with the news that the crime lord had been killed by a Jedi. Those few from Jabba's palace who survived even knew the Jedi's name, but fewer still knew the Jedi in question had grown up within just a few hundred clicks of Jabba's home.

Mara Jade knew. She had studied everything she could about Luke Skywalker, and had even been to the site where his Aunt and Uncle had died. She had watched him face down the grotesque crime lord without ever loosing his calm; regal in the Force. It seemed almost a shame to have to kill someone who seemed even to Mara to be so…good. But her Master's command could not be ignored. It was simply a twist of fate that she could not get on Jabba's sail barge to finish her job. If she had been, she had no doubt the Hutt would be alive, Skywalker would be dead, and her Master's wrath would not have burned through her mind with such terrifying agony.

She lingered on the desert planet to formulate her next move. Someone who did not know her might think she was licking her wounds, but that someone would have died quickly and in great pain had they been stupid enough to mention any such thing to her. Rather, Mara told herself, she was deciding how best to fulfill her promise to her master that she would not fail again.

Things were happening, she knew, that did not give her much time. Although her Master chose not to share everything with her, Mara knew that his master-stroke against the Rebels was close at hand. Even now, Darth Vader was on the new Death Star, ensuring its timely completion-and her Master himself was soon to join the Dark Lord personally.

"Do not fail me again, my servant," the Emperor had whispered into her mind, after her screams of agony had stilled and the pain subsided. "I will await you on the Death Star."

Her ship was prepped, and she knew she would have to leave soon to join her master, but still she lingered. In the mornings she pulled herself out of the cot on her shuttle and stared at the featureless gray of the ceiling tiles, as if waiting for something to happen. She could not pinpoint exactly at what point she realized why the Emperor had been so harsh to her, but nonetheless realization eventually surfaced. The Emperor had punished her not just because she had failed; but also because he seemed to know that some small part of her had wanted to.

Luke Skywalker was not the evil murderer the Emperor had portrayed him as—the man who murdered a million citizens on the first Death Star. He had stood looking at Jabba without any sense of hatred or repulsion. All Mara had felt from him was unshakable determination and even regret over what he knew would have to be done. Mara had killed many people in her service to the Emperor, but never anyone who projected such a sense of goodness. She simply did not want to kill him.

"There's only one thing to do," she decided aloud after her third day languishing on the desert planet. "I'm going to do my master's bidding. I am going to kill Luke Skywalker."

She left the shuttle that morning with a spring in her step for the first time since the day she failed her Master. She would hunt down Luke Skywalker, and kill him without mercy. Only then would she be able to prove to her Master that she was his loyal servant.

As she stepped out of her hanger to make final arrangements with the garrison commander, however, she felt a sudden weight descend on her shoulders, as if suddenly the mass of whole galaxies had been dropped on her. She stopped in her tracks and looked around, trying to identify the feeling of heaviness and where it came from. It took only a moment for her eyes to spot the source of her feeling. She saw a gaunt man, with deathly pale skin and eyes that appeared covered in cataracts, though he seemed to be able to see clearly enough, moving toward her. He walked with a large stick, topped by an ornate white crystal, and the air around him seemed to deaden as he moved. Though he moved slowly through the bustling hot streets of Mos Eisley, silence followed in his wake as sentients of every description left off their fighting, haggling and other pursuits to follow the stranger with their eyes.

Mara had enough training in the Dark Side from her Master to recognize a disturbance in the Force; but her training was not sufficient to explain the feeling of dread that struck her so forcefully.

The gaunt figure reached the center of the largest intersection and simply began to speak. "Hear me, people of this world," he said. His voice boomed through the dusty, narrow streets with such force it seemed impossible not to pay attention. It was the same voice her Master used when addressing large groups, which he rarely had to do anymore. Mara realized she had stopped breathing at the sound of the voice, and had to physically will herself to breathe again.

"I bring great news from beyond the outer rim," the man said. "Salvation has been found, and the path to enlightenment and ascension can be yours. For too long have you all traversed in the darkness; now I have come to show you the cleansing light and fire of your gods. Rejoice that the Ori have at last found you, for your salvation is nigh!"

The crystal flared with bright white light, and Mara's breath was pulled from her lungs under the force of the happiness that jolted through her body. As quickly as the feelings came, though, she shrugged the euphoria off for what it was and stared at the strange, gaunt man.

"Who are you?" she demanded, a hand on her blaster.

"I am a Prior of the Ori," the man said, directing his death's head eyes toward her. "I am a servant of your gods. And I have come to spread the word of Origin, so that all may glory in the Ori, and know the path to ascension."

"And what if we're not interested your gods or your religion?"

The Prior lifted his chin. "Those who do not walk the path of Origin, Mara Jade, must be destroyed."

_He knew her name!_ Her body stilled as cold crept up the base of her spine. She could count on her fingers the number of people alive in the galaxy who knew her real name, and far more not alive who had found out. Instinctively, she pulled her blasters and fired.

The crowd of locals screamed and ducked out of the way. The prior simply lifted his staff and the blaster bolts bounced harmless toward the sky. The man held his hand toward her, and she felt herself pulled from the ground, through the air, into his waiting grasp. This close to him, the man looked like a living corpse, but with no smell at all; not even his breath carried a scent. "Tell your Master, Mara Jade. The Ori are coming. All who do not accept Origin must be destroyed."

He let go of her neck, but she did not fall. He held her in the grip of his power just as her Master had many times before. His hand remained closed into a fist in front of her face; quickly he opened his fingers, and with the motion Mara Jade flew forcefully back across the street to slam into the wall of her own ship's hangar.

"I beg you all to take the teachings of Origin to your heart," he said to the remaining onlookers. He held up a worn book, and then gently placed it in the hands of an old Rhodian female who stood nearby. "Read this book, and let the glory of your Gods enter your heart. I will return in two week's time, and teach you more."

The gaunt, pale figure in white robes turned and began walking away, back toward the Jundland Wastes from which he came. Mara watched him leave with a mixture of hate, loathing; and absolute terror. She tried picking herself up and realized with a sense of shock that at least four of her ribs were broken, that the gurgling in her throat came from her left lung, and that she could not feel her legs any more. "Master!" she called into the Force. "You must hear me!"

* * *

Rev 7.5.2011


	3. Chap 2: A Disturbance in the Force

**Chapter Two: A Disturbance in the Force.**

Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and feared servant of the emperor, knelt before his master in a silent battle to keep his chaotic emotions in check. He had felt his son proceeding to the sentry moon, where the emperor had not.

Emperor Palpatine sat on his massive throne, flanked by crimson guards and a pair of ministers nearby, his chin lifted as if listening to the will of the Force itself. When he spoke, it was slowly and with great weight.

"I have felt a disturbance in the Force," the emperor said.

Vader looked up; had the emperor sensed Skywalker after all? "Yes, my master."

"Things are no longer proceeding as I have foreseen." It was an admission Vader had never heard his master make. "Tell me, my friend," the emperor continued, "have you ever heard of the Ori?"

"No, my master."

"Neither have I, and yet in the past seven days their servants have reached out to over fifty of my most secret and effective agents on as many worlds. Every one of my Hands has been contacted, as well as every top spy I keep. And the message is always the same—accept their petty religion, or die."

Behind his mask, Darth Vader blinked in disbelief. "They threaten us?"

"Many of my hands are force adept, Lord Vader. Not to the level of a true apprentice, but enough to defend themselves adequately. The most recently contacted Hand attempted to kill one of the messengers of the Ori. She and an entire division of our best stormtroopers were killed instantly, and I've just been informed that the rest of the world they were on has died of some unidentified plague. My physicians assure me they can isolate and cure the disease before it travels off-planet, but these Ori have already killed one of my top agents and an entire world of over a billion loyal imperial citizens. And another Hand on Tattoine reported that the Prior there deflected her blaster bolts and levitated her with enough force to break her back."

"These Priors are Jedi?" Vader asked, stunned at the thought.

The emperor sneered. "The Jedi have always been weak and puny. This new threat is greater than any the Jedi could have presented, even at their most powerful. But this presents us with a quandary. What to do about the imminent rebel attack?"

Vader's mechanical breathing paused, causing the emperor to cackle in delight. "Yes, old friend, I was bait in a trap that would destroy the rebels. And I could still act the part, but the Force is warning me not to ignore these Ori and their priors. Therefore, we must choose which course to take."

"The hyperdrive systems on board the Death Star are operational, My Master," Darth Vader said, "as are the weapons systems."

"But the superstructure is vulnerable."

"We are installing planetary-level shielding over the primary weapon, but the southern superstructure is still vulnerable, My Master."

The emperor meditated in silence, and then spoke his will. "Evacuate Endor immediately. The materials needed to continue the construction of the Death Star are already on board; we are going to leave our sanctuary moon."

"The weapons systems have not been tested yet, Master."

"They will be soon enough," Palpatine said decisively. "We shall show these Ori the true power of the Dark Side of the Force!"

"As you wish, My Master."

"A disturbance in the force have I felt. Great danger does the galaxy face. Strong you must be to build the new Jedi order. Start, you must, with your sister."

Yoda's last words still burned a path through Luke's mind as he trailed behind Han and Leia through the primeval forests of Endor. His eyes were constantly flicking to Leia's direction as he wondered just how to tell her that not only was she his sister, but she was the daughter of the man she hated more than anyone in the universe, even more than the emperor himself.

Behind him, the rest of General Madine's special operations commandoes moved through the forest in absolute silence. If not for the droids, the party would have been invisible.

For the tenth time, Luke wondered what possessed Han to bring C-3PO along on the mission. Artoo had a logical purpose to crack any codes or computer programs they might encounter, but the golden protocol droid was utterly useless, and stood out terribly in the forest.

His concentration was broken by a whisper on the wind. He looked up, closed his eyes and opened himself up to the Force. Ahead, he knew that Han and Leia were formulating a strategy concerning a pair of speeder bike troopers they had sighted. Suddenly, though, Luke knew such strategy was unnecessary. "Wait, Han," he whispered to his friend. "Something is happening."

"What, kid?" Han Solo, one-time smuggler and now acting general in the Rebel Alliance, followed the direction of Luke's nod and watched as the bike troopers stood up from their various tasks and put their hands to their helmets as if listening. As one, they all ran back to their speeder bikes and soon were zooming away through the forest.

"What was that about?" Han said.

Behind them, Artoo began beeping and whistling furiously. "Oh my," C-3PO said, throwing his hands into the air. "Artoo says he has intercepted an open imperial broadcast ordering all forces to evacuate the moon immediately for weapons testing!"

"Oh no," Leia whispered. "That means they have the station operational!"  
"We've got to warn the fleet!" Luke said.

"To hell with the fleet, we've got to get outta here!" Han said. He stood up and waived to the column of rebel troops. "Back to the shuttle, on the double! We've got to evacuate the moon!"

When they reached it, the _Tyderium_ sat in the clearing draped with camouflage nets just as they had left it. However, as they neared the ship, they saw a strange figure standing directly in front of the boarding ramp, holding a staff. Luke stepped forward, drawn by the odd twisting he felt in the Force.

"Son of Skywalker," the ghostly figure said, "I have come to show you the path of Origin. Follow this path, and no evil can touch you! The Ori could strike down your enemies with but a touch of their will, for they are the true gods of the universe. Accept their teachings of Origin, and you will know peace."

"I don't care about peace, I care about getting off this rock," Han shouted. He started running toward the figure when something lifted him from the ground and tossed him back into the waiting arms of the soldiers behind them.

Luke stared in shock, but then quickly shook it off and stepped forward. "Evidently you know who I am. We mean you no harm, but we must leave this world."

"Yes, I know who you are, son of Skywalker," the figure said. "I have come to show you the power of the Ori, so that you may believe in them, worship them as your gods, and follow the path of Origin."

"If you know who I am," Luke said, "then you must also know that I follow the path of the Force."

"The Force," the Prior said, laughing. "The Force is abomination and trickery. The Ori existed before the Force, and will exist long after. They have spanned galaxies, and their power cannot be challenged. Those who do not follow the path of Origin must be destroyed."

"Luke," Leia whispered. "We don't have much time."

Luke breathed deeply to center himself in the Force, drawing it in with each breath. "I have no wish to harm you, but I must ask you to move aside."

"If you can move me, do so."

Luke reached out with the Force to lift the Prior as gently as he could. Nothing happened. Luke's eyes snapped open as he tried again, with the same results. The Prior reared his head back and laughed at the attempt. "My power is greater than the Force, son of Skywalker. I am a servant of the Gods!"

He held out his staff, and Luke suddenly felt himself tossed into the air like a toy to the terrified gasps of his comrades. Instantly every commando in the field dropped to their knees and opened fire. The Ori contemptuously raised his staff, stopping the blaster bolds a meter from his body. With a further shake of his staff, every rebel felt themselves thrown back, Leia, Han and the droids included.

The sudden shock of movement forced the air from Luke's lungs, but while the prior's attention was on the commando team, he gathered the Force into himself and landed on his feet, rather than in a pile of broken bones. "You are powerful," he conceded into the silence following the failed barrage of blasters. "But do not underestimate my own power."

He blurred into motion, his lightsaber igniting as he charged the Prior. The green blade of energy collided with the prior's staff as if striking another blade, and the two were at an impasse. This close, Luke could clearly see the milky coating over the creature's eyes. The prior grinned. "You cannot win, Jedi," he said gently, as if to a foolish child. "The beings in this galaxy shall worship the Ori, or be destroyed by them. You cannot…"

Luke spun out of the deadlock while the ghoulish figure boasted, and instead of swinging his saber, he thrust the blade with Force speed directly into the Prior's chest before the man could deflect it with his staff. For the first time, Luke saw shock and surprise on the man's face.

"There shall always be more," the prior whispered. Suddenly, he burst into flames with such terrible heat it forced the young Jedi back.

"What was that about?" Leia demanded.

"General," the troop sergeant said. "We don't have a lot of time."

"Right," Han said. "Everyone in the shuttle now. Derlin, signal the fleet to abort."

In moments the shuttle was airborne and accelerating toward the cobalt skies of Endor. The atmosphere flickered and faded away before the purity of space. "Chewie, keep us on the other side of the moon from the Death Star, and keep a look out for those star destroyers!"

Chewie growled an affirmative, but Luke kept his eyes on the stars beyond the windows. "The star destroyers are already gone," he said, as if speaking to himself. "Vader has already left the system."

Beside them both, Leia said: "How much longer until we can make the jump into hyperspace?"

"We should be free of the gravity well in about a minute or two."

The Force began to tremble in anticipation. Look closed his eyes, reaching out with his mind to try and interpret what he felt. He was not so experienced in the Force yet to be able to instantly understand everything he felt. In this, though, he began to understand. "We may not have that much time," he said. "The death star is firing."

"How do you know, kid?" Han asked, although he already knew.

Suddenly the stars in front of them dimmed before the flash of light from behind, and milliseconds later the shuttle rocked furiously with the first compression waves from the destruction of the moon. "Chewie!" Han pleaded.

"Arrrghhh," Chewie roared as he pressed the hyperdrive control. The stars blurred into a blue tunnel and the imperial shuttle vanished second before a large fragment of the destroyed planet blew past.


	4. Chap 3: The Prior

**Chapter Three: The Prior**

_Home One_ thrummed with activity. That was the only way Luke could describe the feeling in the Force, as if it were thrumming.

His mind was already raw from the cry in the Force of all the lost life that had been Endor. He hadn't realized until they died that the planet had housed many sentient beings, numbering in the millions, and that with a callous wave of his hand the emperor had condemned them all to death simply to test his latest machine.

The fully functional Death Star, however, was only one of the many things of concern for the Rebel Alliance. In briefings a day after the ground team rendezvoused with the fleet, Bothan spies reported a new religion springing up across the galaxy that posed a direct threat against the emperor, and it was supposed that this religion was why the emperor himself had pulled the still incomplete Death Star out of its hidden sanctuary, to battle the religious extremists.

Two days later, reports came over the holonet of a mysterious plague that wiped out Bothawui, the Bothan home world, and somehow spread quickly through the galaxy targeting every living Bothan, including the Alliance's spies. In a matter of days, the entire Bothan race had died without a single blaster shot being fired.

Even without the genocidal plagues, the religion spoken of by the Priors itself felt terribly wrong to Luke. The Force did not feel right around the Prior that had challenged him on Endor, and word that similar beings were appearing all over the galaxy filled Luke with a sense of dread whenever he meditated.

And on top of everything else causing Luke concern, there was the thought of what to do about Leia. His sister. The daughter of Darth Vader.

In the officer's mess, between strategy meetings with the alliance leaders who were trying to guess what was actually happening with no hope of actually guessing right without additional information, he watched his sister and Han. In all the rush of escaping Endor and the revelations about the changes in the emperor's strategies, he had not been able to tell her the truth.

Now, a week later, he began to wonder if he even should. Ever since they had saved Han on Tatooine, her behavior toward the man had changed completely. Although they still argued, Luke sensed an open amity in their sharp words, and at this very moment, Leia sat next to the former smuggler so close they touched from thigh to shoulder. It was the closest thing to a hugless hug as Luke could imagine, and did not fool anyone in the mess hall.

"They make quite a couple, don't they?" Wedge Antilles said as he walked up beside his commander. He had just finished his own dinner and was wiping a smear of sauce from his flight suit. "Sorry you missed her?"

Look turned and stared. "What do you mean?"

"I just remember you and the princess had something going there for a while. I distinctly remember hearing about a kiss in the medical bay on Hoth." Wedge grinned; Luke grimaced, then realized Wedge was right. There had been a kiss, and it had been exciting. No one had ever kissed Luke like that, and he found he liked it. Now, in retrospect, he knew she kissed him as a substitute, and for the life of him he was very glad.

"I love her like she was my own sister," Luke said. "I'm glad they're together. She might civilize him."

"Think he'll make her more roguish?"

Luke clapped his friends shoulder and shook his head. "Han has about as much chance of changing Leia's character as I have of making Darth Vader a good guy."

Wedge didn't understand the peculiar laugh Luke gave at his own joke.

Darth Vader did not like Mara Jade. Even more so, Darth Vader did not like Tatooine. He hated the dust that got into everything, even clogging his breathing mask. He hated the memories that haunted every hazy mirage he saw. Being on Tattoine with Mara Jade made the Dark Lord of the Sith doubly irritated.

Vader had landed with two entire legions of the empire's best stormtroopers; they were experienced, crack professionals who had voluntarily joined the empire, rather than be conscripted or cloned as many of the empire's forces were. These men were elite and prime material for promotion if they survived. They included the 501st Battalion, Lord Vader's personal command, and they soon had all of Mos Eisley under strict imperial control.

Mara had been waiting for him when he walked off his shuttle, dressed in a dark officer's uniform without insignia. Her flame of red hair was carefully gathered under her cap. She attempted to stand at military attention, although he noticed she seemed to be favoring her left side.

"Jade," Vader said as he spotted her. "Walk with me."

She fell in step beside him, to the right and slightly behind. He walked quickly as always, but with a touch of irritation realized she was not keeping up. She grimaced and tried to walk faster. "You shall tell me everything you reported to the emperor about this 'Prior.'"

Mara nodded and began her report while trying to keep up with newly healed ribs and a recovering lung. "He was humanoid, with a bleached coloration and cloudy eyes, as if he should have been blind from cataracts. He deflected my blasters using a staff as if it were a light saber, levitated my body easily and threw me across a street."

"You were injured?"

"I am recovering well, but yes, the Prior threw me against a wall with sufficient force to break four ribs, one of which punctured a lung, and shattered two vertebrae of my spine. I've just emerged from a Bacta emersion and required a replacement of both injured vertebra. I have machinery in me now."

Vader turned and looked down at the Emperor's Hand. In her uniform with her hair collected, he was surprised to see how very young she was. Though her words were old, she was in fact but a child, near in age or possibly even younger even than his son. In fact, she was only a little older than he himself was when he lost his arm. Under the crimson hue of his enhanced vision, she appeared weak and pale, completely unlike the Jade he had watched grow up in the palace. "He frightened you, this Prior?"

She held her chin up and glared at him; he noted the way her hand twitched, as if restraining an urge to assault him. Young or not, Mara Jade was smart enough to know the danger of that, and restrained herself to a glare only. "I do not fear anyone."

"You fear your Master, Jade."

"So do you!" she declared, once more showing her youth in the spiteful retort.

Vader contemplated showing her the danger in challenging him. However, he knew her to be a favorite pet of the emperor. Rather, he simply said: "Yes."

She blinked at the admission, for once caught completely by surprise with the monosyllabic admission. "I asked the question, Jade, to gauge him, not you," Vader continued. "Your feelings are irrelevant in my judgment of you, but may be useful in my assessment of the Prior. Again, did he frighten you?"

Mara pulled her eyes away from the black mask and toward the desert shimmering under the planet's terrible heat. "Yes," she admitted between gritted teeth. "The power he wielded was like nothing I've experienced, except for that shown by our master."

Though Vader sensed it was a difficult admission for the child, he simply didn't care. "I have positioned the fleet around the planet in a blockade. Each ship has the full spread of its sensor packages directed to the surface of this planet. We are at this moment tracking the movement of every being alive on Tattoine. We must determine where these priors are originating, and then hunt them down."

"Yes, Lord Vader," Mara said. "The time I saw the Prior, he walked into town from the direction of the Jundland Wastes, which is…"

"I know where it is, Jade," Vader said. His breathing did not pause, but there was a cadence in his nearly monotone mechanical voice that made the young Hand pause and look at him in confusion. For some reason, Darth Vader sounded almost…wistful, as if remembering something that caused far more pain than anything should cause to a Dark Lord of the Sith.

The Prior came near the end of the afternoon, two weeks to the day from his last visit, walking into town as before. However, this time, no civilians stopped their activities to watch his path. The streets were completely deserted. The Prior continued walking down the street, clutching his staff, with the same confident expression on his pale face, as if he were leading a horde of followers.

He must have seen Vader and the thousand storm troopers long before he actually arrived. But he continued walking at the same unabated pace, never letting his eyes waiver from a point just about the dark lord's helmet. He continued walking until he stood a mere ten paces away from the might of the empires' finest, in the middle of the evacuated town.

"Welcome home, Lord Vader," the Prior boomed in a voice that carried to every last ear in the town. "Have you come to bow down to the Ori and learn the path of Origin?"

Vader ignored Mara Jade's startled stare and walked toward the prior. "I have come to give you the Emperor's answer, Prior of the Ori." The menace in his voice chilled even the burning heat of the Tattoine afternoon.

The prior lifted his chin and said: "The Ori are eternal and forever. The Ori see all. The Ori saw you as a boy on this world, just as we saw your…"

Vader's saber lashed out with inhuman speed, only to be stopped by the Prior's staff. The troopers behind him shifted uncomfortably—many had fought under Lord Vader before, but none had never seen anything stop the inevitable death his light saber wrought.

"You cannot stop the Ori," the Prior said with a ghastly smile.

Vader stepped back and deactivated his sword. The troopers were shocked, but Mara understood. The Dark Lord's orders were to learn about this new enemy, and_ then_ destroy him. "Where do these Ori originate from?"  
"The Ori are eternal and forever," the Prior intonted. He spoke in with a chanting rhythm, almost as if he were singing a song.

"They are not known in this galaxy. Where did you come from?"

"I came from a galaxy far, far away from this one."

"How did you arrive on this world?"

"By the Will of the Ori."

"And how is that Will executed? Did you come by ship?"

"The Ori have given their faithful servants ships greater than any your puny empire can imagine. You will know this soon."

Mara did not like the sound of that, but Vader simply nodded. "How many priors like yourself are there who serve the Ori?"

"As many as the Ori wish there to be. All serve the Ori to their fullest potential, and may be made a prior by the Will of the Ori."

"And what is the Path of Origin?"

"The Path of Origin is the Will of the Ori, explained so that the lesser mortals of the universe may lead a good and virtuous life, lay down their arms, and learn the way to Ascension."

"And what is Ascension?"

"Ascension is the blessing of the Ori for those who follow the Path of Origin. Those who ascend become as gods and join as one with the Ori."

"And what is your name?"

This last question made the Prior pause for the first time. "I have no name. I am the Prior."

"What name were you born with?"

"I have been reborn as a servant of the Ori."

"But you have not always this way. I sense you were a human once. Your name was…yes, it is still there in your mind. Daseth. That was your name. Your mother was Dalea, your father was Dazac. You had a sister and two brothers. Your family is dead, because they did not follow the path of Origin. You killed them with your own hands."

If Vader thought the personal information gleaned from the Prior's mind would shake him, Mara saw that the Dark Lord was mistaken. "All who do not follow the Path of Origin must be destroyed. It is the Will of the Ori."

At that very moment, a dilapidated old landspeeder fell out of the sky directly toward the Prior's head. Mara had not felt or even seen the Dark Lord of the Sith levitate the landspeeder until he released it to plummet toward the still speaking servant of the Ori.

The Prior looked up at the falling landspeeder and lifted his staff defensively. The speeder stopped in mid-air. At that very second, Vader ignited his light saber and slashed easily through the Prior's torso. The Prior's head snapped down with a stunned expression. The landspeeder fell, completing what the light saber had begun with a wet crunch. A heartbeat later, a billow of fire flashed under the landspeeder, only to burn quickly away.

Vader flipped the speeder with a flick of his wrist and a nudge from the Force, and where the Prior's body parts should have been was only a blackened smudge in the dust.

He turned and looked at Mara Jade. "You were afraid of this creature?" he taunted.

She stared at him with narrowed eyes and forced her heart to be still. She had feared the Prior, but now she had something new to fear. For all that she had respected Vader in the past for his position with the Emperor, she had never seen the full extent of his own power in the Force. Now that she had, she found she feared him almost as much as her master.

She did not like the feeling.

After shuttling back to the _Executor_, Vader knelt before the oversized holographic image of the emperor. "Report, my friend."

"The Prior had a great deal of power," Vader said truthfully. "Your Hand admitted she even feared the creature."

"Mara Jade admitting fear?" the emperor mused. "You dispatched it, of course."  
"Of course, my Master."

"And yet…?"

"My Master, I defeated it because the Force was with me. I sensed no fear in this creature, and confidence that even knowing who I was it could have defeated me. Although I have disabused it of this notion, were it not for my strength in the Force, I have no doubt events would have played out differently."

The emperor considered his words, and then spoke with the slow, hypnotizing cadence that had lulled so many of his enemies in the past. "I lost another servant today, sent to Dantooine to quell a Prior uprising there. An adept of the Inquisitorius. Two thousand storm troopers were lost. However, I have also lost contact with the escort sent there. Five destroyers."

Vader looked up at his master. "Though I have seen no evidence of it, the Prior said the Ori had given their followers powerful ships. Perhaps the lost destroyers are the first evidence of that. Any religion is bound to attract some followers."

"They are an abomination in the Force," the emperor said.

"I sensed it as well, my Master," Vader said. "A black hole where the Force should be. I believe these creatures to be a great threat to the empire."

"Indeed. And we shall bring the full force of the empire to deal with them. The Death Star is heading toward Dantooine. I shall remain aboard to oversee the destruction of these Ori craft. The fleet is to rendezvous there in four days. I shall have the exact time and coordinates sent. I want the fleet and the battle station to arrive simultaneously."

"It shall be done, my Master," Vader said.

The hologram flickered out and Vader stood to find Mara Jade staring at him nearby. "That thing could have killed us all if you weren't there, couldn't it have?"

"Most likely," Vader agreed.

"You're going to need all the Sith you can get to fight them," Mara said. She bravely stepped forward. "Take me as your apprentice, teach me the ways of the Sith so I can fight for my emperor!"

He stared at her for a moment, and then slowly squeezed his fingers together. Mara grabbed at her throat and gasped for breath as her feet lifted off the floor. "This is the way of the Sith, Mara Jade. Betrayal. You serve the emperor, and you have killed many in his name, but you have never felt the true power of the Sith. Hatred is the door to the darkside, but not the destination itself."

He let her fall gasping to the deck and looked down at her, an enraged child with flaming red hair. "There is darkness within you, Mara Jade," Vader said, "but you will never be Sith. You care too much." With that, the Dark Lord of the Sith stepped past the Emperor's hand and left his chamber.

"I have killed hundreds, Vader," she spat after him, when the door had already closed. "And I have enjoyed every death!" Even as she said it, though, she knew in her heart that he had been right.


	5. Chap 4: Family

****

Author's note: This story was started before the Ori attack ships were first introduced on Stargate. Therefore, the Ori ships described in this show are closer in appearance to the Ori supergate craft than the ships we see later. However, the actual canon Ori attack ships will be introduced later.

Thanks for reading. DM

****

**Chapter Four: Family**

Princess Leia Organa threw the flimsiplast report down on the desk of her cramped office aboard _Home One_ and rested her head in her hands. General Solo was on training exercises that day with Red, Blue and Green squadrons, putting them through their paces. The thought of a former smuggler and pirate not only leading men in the Alliance, but by all accounts leading them exceptionally well, was enough to make the princess smile. "After all," General Madine had told her just that morning, "he was actually an imperial navy officer for a brief time. He did quite well at the Academy. It is not entirely surprising to find he is a natural leader."

_A natural leader_, Leia thought to herself with a rueful smile, _and a hell of a good kisser._

Her door chimed, and a moment later at her invitation opened to reveal Luke. The thought of kissing Han and then having Luke show up made Leia's cheeks blossom with a red blush. Of course, Luke noticed and blinked. Lately, since he claimed to be a Jedi, he noticed everything. "Is this a bad time?"

"No! Of course not, please come in. Do you want anything to drink?"

"No, I'm fine, thank you," Luke assured her. He walked over and sat in the center of the five chairs facing Leia's desk. As he sat, dressed as always in his black uniform that was not a uniform, his eyes poured over the piles of reports on her desk. "I don't think I've ever seen your desk that…untidy."

"We're trying to figure out what to do next," Leia admitted. "We gathered every resource we had, tapped every credit we could get our hands on, to perform the assault at Endor. Now that there is not going to be an assault, Mon Mothma and the rest of the advisory council are looking for something to do."

Luke nodded. "I understand, better than you might think." He leaned forward and put his hands on her desk. They both noticed the glove he wore over his sword hand—the damage his artificial hand received on Tatooine during Han's rescue had not been repaired yet. "Leia, are you happy with Han?"

The question hung in the air, and Leia leaned back away from the young man that had become such a presence in her life. In a small way, she feared this would happen. Men demanded resolution, she had found. Absolutes. Either a friend or a lover, and even among her closest friends, they had to know. But for the life of her, she did not want to hurt Luke. She loved him, nearly as much as she did Han.

"Luke, you know I love you. Ever since you and that scraggily nerf herder charged into the Death Star like idiots to save me, I've loved you. You saved me from that monster—I can never forget that."

"I suspect that if that monster knew who you were, he would have treated you differently. But you didn't answer my question. Are you happy with Han?"

She turned away and looked out toward the stars. They were flying within a few million miles of a black hole with a massive disk that shone brighter than anything else in that quadrant, partially to obscure any imperial sensors that might have been in the quadrant. "I…I…love him too, Luke. I love you both. But with him, it's different." She turned and gave her most sympathetic smile to the farmboy and hero of the Alliance. "Yes, I am happy with him. I can't imagine why or how, but I am happy with him."

Luke leaned back and nodded. "That's good, Leia. It's right that my best friend and my sister should be happy together."

It didn't click at first. Rather, Leia felt a rushed sense of relief that Luke wasn't hurt by her admission of feelings for one disrespectable former smuggler. "I'm glad you understand, Luke. It's been…" She stopped, her eyes widening as she stared at him. "Wha…what did you say?"

Luke smiled. "I've been playing this moment over and over again in my mind since I returned from Dagobah, trying to find the perfect way to tell you, or even if I should. I thought you would need proof, so I had Too-Onebee run a blood scan so I could show you something more compelling than just the word of a dying Jedi Master, and a conversation with a second one already dead." He added a small piece of flimsiplast to an already large pile of similar sheets.

Leia stared at it a moment as if afraid to touch it. Finally, with a slight shake of her head, she picked the flimsiplast up and studied it.

"You are adopted, Leia," Luke continued. "You already knew that. What you didn't know was from whom. Your birth name is Leia Skywalker. You are my twin sister."

She stared at the genome comparison test, then up at Luke with her mouth hanging open. When she found words, they were disbelieving. "That's just not…Luke, what are the odds of us coming together like this? It was just sheer chance that you found R2 and C-3PO at all. How could we even be sitting here like this?"

"I grew up within a stone's throw of a meddling Jedi," Luke reminded her. "Ben Kenobi was always close by, watching me, secretly guiding me. He is the one who urged me to go to Alderaan. And as for the droids, you were purposely seeking him out, remember? I'm not sure it was chance, destiny or just Ben being Ben. As for saving you there…I fell in love with you the moment I saw you; you were familiar to me in a way I couldn't describe. Ben knew who you were, of course, and he knew the time for us to meet had come. I imagine if he had lived, he would maybe even have told us. But now, looking back, I realize why he lied, why he and Master Yoda split us up and made sure we had no knowledge of the other."

"What could possibly have convinced them to do something so cruel as to take us away from our family?"

Luke leaned forward, reached across the stacks of reports, and took her hands in his. "Do you believe you are my sister, Leia?"

She slowly nodded. "Yes I do. Somehow, I've always known."

"Then believe me now, for what I'm about to tell you won't be easy to hear. We were split up, and our identities safeguarded, to protect us from our father."

"Our father?"

"Yes. He was once a powerful Jedi, but he succumbed to the Dark Side of the force and became a dark lord of the Sith and the emperor's apprentice."

Leia pulled her hands free from his grasp and began shaking her head. "Luke, no, no no no no…"

"Leia, Darth Vader is our father," Luke continued softly. "His real name was Anakin Skywalker. And I believe there is good in him still—I felt a conflict in him on Bespin, when we fought. He had every chance to kill me, Leia. But he didn't."

"No, he did that…" she said, pointing at the glove, "instead. Luke, I can't believe this. What he did to me…" She looked up, suddenly understanding Luke's earlier reference. "So he didn't know."

"At that time he didn't know about either of us, and he still doesn't know about you. Ben and Yoda were able to shield you when you were young. But the Force flows in your veins, Leia. You have the same Jedi potential as I do. You must be trained if we're going to defeat the empire."

"And be like _him_?" The revulsion in her face set Luke aback.

"Not like him, Leia. Like me." His calm voice broke through to her, and she found herself looking into the depths of his eyes.

"I wish I had eyes like yours," she said softly. "I would have broken the hearts of all the courtiers in father's court if I had eyes like yours."

Luke stood, stepped around her desk to kneel beside her and wrap his arms tightly around her. "I've always loved you for you, and now I have even more reason to love you. And as a former farmboy who almost drooled himself into dehydration just looking at your hologram, I can assure you that you almost certainly _did_ break the hearts all the young men in your adopted father's court. You are beautiful, and Han Solo is one lucky nerfherder."

"So you don't mind Han and me?"  
"No, it feels right for you to be together."

"Should I tell him?"

Luke considered. "I leave that decision in your hands. In the meantime, though, we must begin your training. The Force has been whispering a warning to me, ever since Endor, that we will be facing a terrible challenge, a challenge only the Jedi can hope to overcome." He took her hand and stood, lifting her out of her seat.

"You mean right now?"

"There is no better time, Sis."

She nodded, and then grinned. "What do you want to bet I'm the older one?"

Luke laughed as he led her by the hand out of her office.

The world of Dantooine hung like blue-green pearl in the otherwise empty sky. Orbiting a small yellow star and with a population only in the millions, the planet had never been near the heart of galactic affairs. In fact, it had been so remote from those affairs Princess Leia had named it as a diversion to save her beloved planet Alderaan from the first Death Star. The attempt failed, of course, but Dantooine continued.

Until now.

With coordination made possible through technology and the power of the two Sith lords commanding them, the new Death Star came out of hyperspace just outside the orbit of Dantooine's first moon within milliseconds of the arrival of one hundred star destroyers, led by the massive super star destroyer the _Executor._ The super star destroyer took its position directly in front of the incomplete southern hemisphere of the station.

Seconds after the arrival of the Imperial Navy, five ships came into view of the Death Star from the other side of the planet, pitiful in numbers and size compared to the overwhelming might of the empire.

Vader stood on the bridge of his ship, Admiral Piett a step behind. "Only five ships, m'lord?" Piett said. "These Ori creatures must be mad."

Vader said nothing. The Force trembled around this world, crying out as if sickened by a cancer in life itself. The Ori had indeed entrenched their beliefs here, and those beliefs were repugnant not just to Vader, but to the Force itself. Below him, a miniature hologram of the emperor appeared. "Lord Vader, you and the fleet are to keep the enemy vessels from escaping only. The Death Star will deal with them and their new planet directly."

"Yes, my Master," Vader said.

Piett nodded and looked out the window to watch the glorious victory. It was a victory in which enough imperial might to wipe out a thousand planets confronted five puny ships each a third the size of a dreadnaught. "Lord Vader, since it does not appear we will be needed, are there any other duties you wish me to attend to?"

"Remain at your post, Admiral," Vader said. "I sense there is more to this than meets the eye."

Piett snapped to attention. "Yes, m'lord."

The five enemy ships came in view of the naked eye as tiny white dots hovering just on the horizon of the planet. The sensors in front of Vader displayed each as perhaps one hundred meters in length, shaped like oblong ovals. Piett could see neither obvious signs of weapons, nor any sign of defensive measures at all. The ships took up a position between the Death Star and the planet. Suddenly, a voice boomed through every ship in the system, simultaneously as if from the heavens themselves. "Glory be to the Ori! Those who do not walk the path of Origin must be destroyed."

In answer, the Death Star fired its primary weapon. Piett remained by Vader's side and watched as the beams conjoined to form the massive super-laser that lashed toward the five ships. Not only should the laser destroy the ships, but the planet below as well.

The beam impacted the ships. The two ships on either end of the row of five darkened, and then exploded, but the three center ships remained intact and, at least on the surface, unharmed. The planet below was untouched.

"How is that possible?" Piett whispered.

"The center ships are absorbing and channeling the energy," Vader said. Although his mechanical voice was monotone, Piett thought he heard a note of awe in the Dark Lord's words.

"I don't understand how that can be possible."

"Neither do I, Admiral," Vader admitted into the hushed shock of the bridge.After a few minutes of deathly quiet, the Death Star fired again, at reduced power since the station did not have sufficient time to completely recharge its weapon. The beam again struck the Ori ships, and again the two ships on either end darkened and exploded, finally leaving just one vessel. Suddenly, a streak of solid white light erupted from the nose of the Ori ship toward the Death Star. The Death Star was equipped with shields nearly on the order of planetary shielding, and where the superstructure was complete, should have been impervious to any attack save from another superlaser.

The Ori beam sliced through the shielding as if it weren't there, and began burrowing into the hull of the Death Star. The beam continued firing in one long lance of destruction.

"Order all ships to open up on the Ori craft, all batteries," Vader ordered. "The _Intrepid_ and _Chryselaa_ are to move to intercept immediately. If necessary, they are to interrupt the beam physically."

Piett relayed the orders and immediately the two smaller destroyers lurched forward toward the Ori vessel. Thousands of turbolaser batteries opened fire on the lone Ori vessel, pumping enough destructive energy to destroy a world many times over. The ship continued firing its laser into the superstructure of the Death Star with no obvious effect from the Imperial fire.

"It's already burrowed 40 kilometers into the station," Piett said, looking at his strategic displays. "The weapon is heading for the station's hypermatter reactor!"

"The emperor is aboard that station," Vader said. "_Intrepid_, intercept that beam!"

Though the captain of the _Intrepid_ knew it to be suicide for himself and his crew, he gave the order to move his ship forward without hesitation. Piett watched with pride as the Imperial navy once again showed its true mettle. Then he gasped as the Ori beam easily ripped through the shields of the Star Destroyer, and a moment later through the body of the ship itself, to continue boring into the Death Star. The destroyer continued its forward momentum, carrying more and more of its superstructure into the path of the beam, until its reactor was finally struck, and the whole ship erupted in a single burst of flame fueled by interior air reserves. When the flame died in the vacuum of space, the beam continued its relentless attack on the Death Star while large pieces of the dead destroyer drifted into a decaying orbit around the planet.

"All ships, move to intercept," Vader ordered. "Admiral, ramming speed. We shall destroy the enemy ship ourselves."

The fleet of destroyers flew toward the lone Ori vessel as the Death Star began moving back away from the planet. Even with its movement, though, the beam continued to bore through toward the hypermatter reactor deep within.

"All hands, brace for impact," Piett announced through the com. Gods or not, omnipotent or not, the lone Ori vessel apparently was unable to overcome the laws of inertia, mass, and the sheer size of the _Executor_. Over 19,000 meters of durasteel, turbolasers and fusion ripped through the tiny vessel, leaving nothing but rubble in its wake. Even as small as if was, however, the shock of impact rippled through the entire craft as collision alarms ran through the ship. "We've suffered hull damage through the entire front quarter of the ship," Piett said, amazed. Impacting a dreadnaught should not have caused as much damage as the small Ori ship did.

Then the admiral's eyes passed by another sensor. "Lord Vader," he said, his voice catching. "We were too late!"

Vader turned to look out the port viewer and saw the surface of the Death Star sprouting flames. "Master," he said aloud.

There was no answer, only a chillingly cold emptiness in the Force where his master had once been. Only then did Vader realize the Emperor's observation tower had been point zero where the Ori beam had struck. The master of the Galactic Empire had died instantly, and so quickly with such overwhelming power, that the Force itself barely had time to register his passing.

"Move the fleet away from the Death Star immediately," Vader said. "The blast from the station will destroy this hemisphere of Dantooine; we will conduct a Base Zero Delta on any habitable surface that remains. There is nothing more to be done here. When we have cleared the wreckage, contact Grand Vizier Sate Pestage on Coruscant. There is much we must discuss if the Empire is to survive."

"The Emperor, Lord?" Piett asked.

"Fallen to the Will of the Ori," Vader said darkly.


	6. Chap 5: Apprentices

**Chapter Five: Apprentices**

Few people had ever seen Mon Mothma, former imperial senator and leader of the rebellion, run. And no one had ever seen Admiral Ackbar run. Some even doubted he could run on land, since the Mon Calamari were aquatic creatures. So when the two leaders of the Alliance trotted through _Home One_, people got out of their way.

The two Rebel leaders found Princess Leia Organa in a training room, her eyes covered by the blast shields of a flight helmet, wielding Luke Skywalker's green saber against a training drone. As the two rushed in, they witnessed something neither could believe. The Princess wielded the saber in a tight arc, intercepting five bolts from the drone in quick succession. Luke held out his hand and the drone obediently came to him as Leia deactivated the lightsaber and took off her helmet. "I felt it!" she exulted.

Then she noticed their visitors. "Princess Leia!" Ackbar said, stunned.

"Leia, what is happening here?" Mothma said.

For once the princess was caught speechless. Luke easily recalled the saber from her grip and clipped it to his belt. "Mon Mothma, Admiral, I have begun training the princess in the ways of the Force. She is to be a Jedi, like myself."

This time it was Mothma's turn to gape. "A Jedi? Leia, when did this happen? You've never mentioned anything about this before."

"It was a recent development," the princess said. "It is my hope that my training will not interfere or make you reconsider my position here in the Alliance."

"Of course not," Ackbar said without hesitation. "If anything, it makes you even more valuable for us. Although Commander Skywalker's absences have been regrettable, we have gained a Jedi knight to lead our forces in battle. Now, it seems, we shall have a Jedi to lead us in spirit as well. I for one am excited by this new aspect of your person. I am just surprised."

"Thank you, Admiral," Leia said. "But you both came here for something else. What is happening?"

"We've received reports that the Death Star and the main imperial fleet led by Darth Vader and the Emperor himself have attacked Dantooine."

Leia and Luke shared a glance at the name of Vader. "What's at Dantooine?" Luke asked.

"Evidently, it has become loyal to these Ori you mentioned in your briefing from Endor," Ackbar said. "The emperor has gone to destroy the planet personally. In fact, he should already be there, since our information is several days old."

Luke closed his eyes and reached out to the currents of the Force. Yes, they were there, he could sense the conflict on the edge of the galaxy. Suddenly, there was a sharp stab of light, anguish and pain. And Rage. Overwhelming rage. He heard a terrible voice crying out in fury and forced his eyes open. Leia was kneeling beside him, while Mothma and Ackbar hovered nearby.

"I felt something, but I couldn't tell what it was," Leia said. "Tell me, Luke, what did you sense?"

"Dantooine has been destroyed."

"Not surprising," Ackbar said.

"And so has the Death Star, and the emperor," Luke continued. "These Ori destroyed the Death Star with a single ship, a single shot. I sense…danger. Terrible danger."

0-0-0

Vader meditated. What used to be a difficult task when he was young became easier with time and forced confinement in his hyperbaric chamber. With his own scorched eyes, he watched and read through the after-action report and confirmed that the emperor's observation tower had been the main target of the Ori ship. In a real sense, the emperor was dead milliseconds before the beam even struck the superstructure of the battle station.

He closed his watery eyes and centered himself in the Force as best he could. The task was difficult with all the different fears and thoughts crowding his mind. He pushed them forcefully aside, and attempted to attain oneness with the Force.

Suddenly, he was not alone. "Have you come to gloat, Old Man?" Vader said, his naked voice raspy and thin.

"Who is old now, my friend?" the glowing blue shade of Obi-Wan Kenobi said. "The galaxy will not miss Darth Sidious." His ghost stood in the thin service ring just inside the walls of the chamber, which had room for perhaps two or three technicians in addition to Vader himself.

"Why are you here?"

Kenobi looked at his former apprentice with obvious sadness. "So much pain you have felt, my old friend. So much I would have spared you, if I could have."

"You are the cause of my pain."

"Tell yourself that if you must. That is not why I came to you."

"You come because of the Ori."

"They are a danger not just to your empire, Vader, but to all life in the Galaxy, and to the Force itself. And only the Jedi can stop them."

"That is unfortunate, then, as all the Jedi are dead."

"You know that is not true, Old Friend. The Jedi live through your son, and others. Only with the Jedi can you or anyone hope to stop the Ori."

"I am not Jedi."

"You are, you have simply forgotten," Obi-Wan. "You son could remind you. He is a great Jedi, Anakin. And he will be greater yet, given time and your guidance. But he will never be Sith. He is filled with light and love. And should he ever stand at your side, the two of you will be unstoppable. Like we were, so many years ago."

Before Vader could say anything, the shade of Obi-Wan faded from view. Vader remained perfectly still, caught unbidden by a flood of memories he had kept repressed for two decades. He shook his head, trying to rein in his wild thoughts. Since the emperor's death, he had experienced these odd moments of introspection. It was, he decided, a sign of his weakness. As much as he had always hated his servitude, it seemed without his master, he truly was weak.

Several hours later, Vader found Mara Jade in her quarters on the _Executor_, crumpled on her mattress with her hair spread about her shoulders. Her shoulders and back still shook with what could only have been sobs. The scene struck him with near physical force; that _the_ Mara Jade would be crying. She looked up at the Sith lord with red, watery eyes. Her whole face was red from tears. "He's gone."

"Yes."

"You could have saved him!" she yelled.

"He died in the first enemy volley. I could have destroyed their ships sooner had I realized the danger, but I could not have saved him."

She launched herself from the floor with preternatural speed, roaring "You liar!" as she did.

Vader held up a hand and the young woman bounced back as if struck by a wall. She stared at him with her chest and shoulders heaving, and then collapsed back to the floor plating. "Are you going to kill me?" The moisture in her eyes seemed to boil away before her sudden flare of rage. "Isn't that what Darth Vader does to people who don't fawn at this feet?"

"I have asked Grand Vizier Pestage to assume administrative responsibility for the empire until more permanent arrangements can be made," Vader said. "The Ori have shown their hand, and their threat must now be taken at face value."

Mara picked herself off the floor and moved to a nearby chair. "And what of me?"

Vader stepped forward, reached for his belt, and removed a cylinder from his belt and placed it on the bistro table near her. She stared at it without comprehension. "You shall be trained in the ways of the Force."

"You said I didn't have what it takes to be Sith," she sneered.

"You do not," Vader countered. "I am trained in both sides of the Force, and I shall teach you that mastery. Only then, trained in the skills of the both the Sith and the Jedi, will you be able to fight be my side to avenge your Emperor."

"And what of Skywalker?"

The question gave the dark lord pause for a moment. "What of him?"

"The emperor's last command to me was to kill him."

Vader went completely still, and Mara felt herself cringing away from the aura of _blackness_ that poured suddenly from the Sith lord. "Skywalker is no longer your concern," he said at last. "I shall deal with him myself. Now, to the point at hand. Will you consent to be trained in the Force?"

"You mean I have a choice?"

"I am not the emperor, and you are not Sith," Vader said. "You have a choice. Should you refuse, I will allow you to leave this ship and serve the empire in your own way. Should you accept, then I will be your master, and you will obey me as if your life depends on it."

Which, Mara knew, it would. She fingered the lightsaber, remembering how easily the Dark Lord wielded it on Tattooine. "I accept, Master," she said. "For the empire."


	7. Chap 6: The Path of Origin

_I realized that my section breakers weren't showing up in the posted texts. So with this one I made sure to re-enter it. Then I re-entered it again, and again, to no avail. I finally ended up using a combination of hyphens and 0s to signify a section break. Sorry for the poor aesthetics there. If anyone knows how to have a section break that doesn't look like poodoo, please let me know._

_Thanks--DM_

**Chapter Six: The Path of Origin**

The Imperial Palace on Coruscant was ablaze with rumor and intrigue. The Emperor was dead, how would his empire continue?

Sate Pestage, Grand Vizier to the emperor and acting chief administrator of the empire, felt a growing sense of anger as the rumors mounted. Grand Moffs openly scoffed at him, and just that morning Grand Admiral Thrawn had called on him to step down to let a military junta take control "for the sake of the Empire during these perilous times," the alien had said. The fleet of ships he had brought with him gave his words an ominous tone.

Sate's extensive spy network assured him that of all the grand admirals and moffs, Thrawn had the most potential to be a threat. The blue skinned, red-eyed alien was a minority of one in the massive imperial navy, and despite the emperor's dislike of non-humans, had risen up the ranks through sheer force of competence. The empire needed people like Thrawn, but Sate Pestage knew those same people presented the greatest threat to the empire's stability.

He knew he could contact Lord Vader; that the threat of the emperor's apprentice could possibly keep the mutinous elements in line, but truthfully it felt petty, like threatening an impetuous child with another parent's punishment. Vader was for all intents and purposes the leader of the empire, but both he and Sate knew the Sith lord had no interest in direct administration.

Pestage decided the only thing to do was to have the Chiss grand admiral arrested for treason and publicly executed, preferably within the next hour or two. He was about to call his aide to make the arrangements when the doors to his office exploded inward. The force of the blast knocked Pestage from his seat. When he picked himself up, he saw three things immediately: first, the imperial guards that flanked his doors were not only dead, but appeared to have been ripped apart into putty. He saw red goo going all the way up the side of his five meter high door frame, and he couldn't tell which part was uniform, and which guard. Second, he saw that the doors themselves, made of durasteel, had been shattered into pieces. Pestage knew of weapons that could melt durasteel or blast them, but nothing that would break the metal apart through sheer kinetic force. Third, and last, he saw what could only be a Prior of the Ori standing sedately in the middle of the door frame, the tip of his staff glowing with an impossibly bright shade of white.

"Sate Pestage," the Prior said, "I have come to show you the Path of Origin, so that you may worship the Ori as your gods. They have looked upon you, and you are special unto them. Come, and you shall serve as a Prior to the gods."

Grand Admiral Thrawn knew Pestage was going to have him arrested. The Grand Vizier really had no choice, and Thrawn doubted he would be the only one. The Grand Admirals and Grand Moffs were simply too powerful to be allowed to continue in the absence of the Emperor. And so, Thrawn knew, Pestage himself had to be removed from power. With Vader out on his crusade against the Ori, Pestage had little more than bluff to keep the military and governors in line. Thrawn had much more than that.

He entered his office suite in the palace and smiled as Lieutenant Markis snapped to attention. "Lieutenant," the admiral said. Behind the sharply dressed young officer stood a squad of fifteen stormtroopers. He had three hundred other troopers in and around the palace. Thrawn knew of at least three other admirals and a moff who had similar numbers in the palace. He secretly contacted each one, telling them that Sate Pestage had ordered their arrests, and that the warrant was to be issued at exactly noon that day.

It was not surprising then that when Thrawn gathered his forces and moved on Pestage's office, he and those admirals and the lone moff who had the foresight to bring personal troops met in the central audience chamber that led to Pestage's office. The separate factions eyed each other suspiciously as Thrawn stepped forward and looked over the men. Grand Admiral Reeds, Yorshiri and Tictian were competent enough men, if not particularly inspired. Grand Moff Sharsuun was inspired, to be sure, but with far more political savvy than military expertise. Still, by having the foresight to bring troops and the courage to act, it was these four men that Thrawn knew he had to work with.

"Gentleman," Thrawn began, "I see that you share my discomfort with the current state of affairs. I have proposed to the Grand Vizier the need for a military council to continue the Empire's reign until such time as more permanent arrangements can be made. Unfortunately, he did not share my opinion in this matter, and apparently has taken steps to consolidate his position by removing us. It is clear that the Empire needs our leadership, but now I must ask all of you: can we provide that leadership by working together?"

Sharsuun made a point of flicking a particle from the lapel of his uniform. "Grand Admiral Thrawn, what makes you think you are capable of running the empire, in part or in whole?"

"By the Emperor's faith that I was capable of being a Grand Admiral. And I would suggest that each of us here shared the Emperor's faith in our abilities. Though he is gone, we must continue in his name or our empire will be doomed."

"I don't see any other way," Admiral Reeds said, looking earnestly at each of them. "Pestage was an able assistant to the Emperor, but we all know that's all he was. The Emperor took direct control over every major decision we faced. Pestage does not have that skill or ability. No one man does, save possibly Lord Vader himself. And he is not here."

"That brings up a valid point, though," Sharsuun said. "Lord Vader personally asked Sate Pestage to assume administrative responsibility. What makes you think he won't kill us all the moment he returns?"

"Because he needs us," Thrawn said. "You, Grand Moff Sharsuun, of all people, should be aware of Lord Vader's administrative history. He is a great warrior, but he is not nor every will be a bureaucrat. Without Pestage, who else will he have to run his empire?"

The words were less than convincing, Thrawn thought to himself, but he knew they were for show only. The men's minds were made up the moment they gathered their own soldiers to march on Pestage's office. It was merely a formality, an excuse to make them feel better about what they all knew had to be done.

"Very well, I for my part accept your proposal," Sharsuun said. "A joint military junta to rule the administrative aspects of the Empire pending Lord Vader's return." With Sharsuun in the lead, the three admirals quickly granted their assent, and the five men with their thousand storm troopers marched on Pestage's office.

Only, they were not the first. Thrawn felt a cold thrill shudder through his body when he saw the remnants of the imperial guards on either side of the door. Pestage himself stood in the doorway, but it was not the grand vizier that any of them were familiar with.

Pestage's sunken, evil eyes had become chalk white, his skin, already sallow, was now the color of bone. His voluminous purple robes of state had been shed, and now he wore a simple white robe that matched the bone-like staff he carried in his left hand. In his right, a seeming anachronism, he held a leather-bound book of real paper.

"Welcome, gentleman," Pestage said in a voice that they all recognized, only blown to unbelievable volume. "I have been reborn to serve the Ori, so that all on Coruscant may know the path of Origin."

"Kill him," Thrawn said without hesitation. He turned and shouted to his storm troopers, "fire on that man now!"

All the troopers in hearing range who had a clear shot complied. The first row knelt down to allow the troopers behind to get better shots, and as one almost five hundred blaster bolts streaked toward the lone figure of Pestage.

The former grand vizier raised his staff, and the bolts bounced harmlessly into the air over the audience chamber. The troopers ceased firing when they quickly saw their bolts had no effect. Just as quickly, the newest prior raised a single hand.

With a grunt of surprise, Thrawn felt himself lifted high into the air above his men. This, he admitted with chagrin, was a tactic he would never have been able to predict. "Those who do not follow the path of Origin must be destroyed," the Prior said.

Pestage closed his outstretched fingers into a fist. Thrawn managed to scream once as his body was bent backward with snapping force, until his head was literally between his knees, looking forward. His stunned red eyes lost their glow, just in time for his broken and shattered body to fall to the floor.

"You will all bow down to the Ori," the prior said, "or be destroyed."

0-0-0

Darth Vader rested in his hyperbaric chamber, meditating again as the medical system automatically checked the status of his damaged suit after his latest encounter with the Ori.

The suit had been damaged by another Prior when he had led a landing party against Ori forces on the planet Shuriz IV. The natives there were primitive by galactic standards and had embraced the Priors openly. What little technology existed from traders and the two corporations that had landed on the planet was quickly discarded by the natives.

The conflict was not a strategic one. Vader felt no hesitation in ordering the total destruction of the planet, but his second encounter with a Prior had proven more difficult than the first, and he wanted to gain more experience by facing a third.

He went down to the planet with Jade and a detachment of stormtroopers whose sole role was to keep the native species off the shuttle. Vader felt little surprise to find a Prior waiting for him with the ever-present staff and book.

"Have you come to accept the path of Origin, Darth Vader?"

At his instructions, Jade remained on the shuttle as he walked out to meet the prior. In the distance, the Sith lord could see hordes of native Gril'anches watching and waiting for proof of their new gods' power.

"I have come to learn more about your gods," Vader said. "If they are so powerful, why have they not interceded directly in our affairs?"

"How can we learn from the Path of Origin if the gods smooth the path before our feet? The Path is the means to life everlasting. The trials of the Path ensure we are purified to seek the blessing of Ascension. There could be no Ascension, and no purity, if the gods were to smooth the path before us."

Vader slowly walked around the Prior, who stood unmoving, unflinching, his eyes at a point in the sky just above the shuttle. "Where are these Prior ships coming from?"

"From the Ori."

"The Ori are not native to this galaxy. Where in this galaxy are the ships arriving? What method of propulsion do they use to arrive here? Why are no ships over this planet now."

"All questions may be answered by the Ori," the Prior said.

Vader, though, sensed more. "I have learned what I needed," he said. He ignited his red lightsaber and prepared to dispatch the Ori. The fight was even more difficult that the first two. The harder Vader drew on the Dark Side of the force, the more powerful the Prior became in defending himself. Vader's rage towered into huge force storms, raining debris down on the Prior. With a flick of his staff, the Prior easily deflected the debris.

Vader cracked the rock under the Prior's feet; the man levitated from the ground to a new spot and renewed the battle, wielding his staff like it was a Sith lightsaber. Vader's mechanical breathing began to strain under the battle. The Prior, meanwhile, showed no sign of strain, and in fact fought with a beatific smile on his face, as if he knew the Dark Lord's end was certain. In the distance, the Gril'anches shuffled in awe. A small part of Vader's mind knew that to the primitive natives, it appeared he was a demon, cloaked in black, fighting an angel clad in purist white.

After a particularly swift exchange, the Prior held out his hand, and Vader felt himself thrown backward with tremendous force. He landed on his back with a heavy thud, and fought desperately for air. His respirator had been damaged.

Nearby, he saw Jade moving down the ramp with her lightsaber in hand. "_No_," he sent to her through the force. "_You must not engage him!"_

"You cannot defeat the power of the Ori," the Prior said as he walked slowly toward Vader. "Your power of the Force is trivial compared to the might of the gods. Accept the Ori, and you can be healed and made whole. You can leave your mask behind and be a whole man, in the service of the gods. Such is their power."

To be whole again. Vader closed his eyes and thought back to the last time he was whole; the last time he was able to touch a human being. He had been human, although already twisted by hatred and fear. But there had been times, brief though they were, that he had been at peace, curled next to the body of the one person in his life he had loved even more than himself.

He looked up at this Ori, and though he would soon die, realized that he felt no fear. Nor even resignation. He felt something he had not felt since his earliest training as a Jedi, since his life as a loving husband. It was a feeling he had felt hints of since being freed from the emperor's thrall. Darth Vader felt at peace. He was ready to join his Padmé. He sat up slowly in the dirt and studied the Prior.

"Your gods are a blasphemy to the Force, and to life itself," he said without anger, or rage. The Force flowed through him, and for a brief time he forgot his struggle to breathe. "You religion is a cancer in the galaxy. You cannot be allowed to win, for the sake of all the lives you would destroy. Should it require my life to stop you, I give that life gladly, but I will stop you."

The beatific smile disappeared. The Prior thumped his staff against the ground and brilliant white light appeared. "Those who do not walk the Path of Origin must be destroyed," he said. "If you will not join us, Darth Vader, then you will be destroyed."

A circle of light lashed out from the crystal of the staff, impacting Vader directly in the chest. He raised his hands reflexively and pulled the Force into himself. He felt the light push at him, raging to get inside, but the sense of peace he felt remained, and eventually the Prior's light passed by and through him, and he remained unaffected.

"How…?" the Prior said, clearly stunned that Vader was not vanquished.

"The Force is my ally," Vader said, before impaling the Prior between the eyes with his lightsaber.

The now familiar flash of fire came and cleansed the remains. Vader walked past the ashes on the ground back toward the shuttle as the angry natives charged them. "Lift off," Vader instructed. "Inform Admiral Piett to executor order Base Delta Zero on this planet. These creatures are too loyal to the Ori to save."

The captain of the shuttle complied as the soldiers piled in. Vader sat near the front; moments later Jade joined him. "Master," she said softly, "what happened? Why do you feel different?"

So she could feel it as well. Vader smiled under his mask and realized that even with the Ori threat, since the death of the Emperor a great shroud seemed to have been lifted from him. His meditations came easier, now, and things that in the past would have infuriated him now seemed inconsequential. Not a single officer had died under his command since the war against the Ori began, the longest stretch ever where the Dark Lord of the Sith had not had to punish somebody with his or her life. And then there was the visit from Obi-Wan.

"It is not time to explain yet," he said at last. He turned and noticed for the first time her grimace. "Are you injured?"

"That light burned," she admitted. "None of the other soldiers felt it, but I did. I still do."

He took in her presence in the Force, and immediately sensed the rage that had been the cornerstone of her adult life. In his mind's eye, he could see the Prior's light still lingering within her Force presence, augmenting and somehow interacting with that rage to form a physical response of pain. He saw immediately that if the process continued, in time would be lethal.

The Prior's light had literally been a weapon directed against the Sith. "Go into a meditative trance," he said, "as I have taught you. The Prior has injured you, and the injury will grow worse in time. The trance should eliminate its effects."

"You weren't affected, Master?"

"No."

A weapon directed at the Sith, and Darth Vader was not affected.

As soon as he returned to his chambers, Vader entered his hyperbaric chamber. The moment it sealed itself, mechanical arms raised his helmet and mask off, and Vader gasped for breath in the purified air of the chamber. Another mechanical arm plugged itself into his suit to run the diagnostic, while additional arms reached down from the ceiling to begin repairs on his chest.

"Display active," Vader said. His natural voice sounded reedy and thin, but the chamber computer acknowledged the order and the interior wall of the chamber blinked into a large rectangular display.

"Display image 1001, Vader priority one override." The computer acknowledged his command, and in moments he was staring at an immersive dimensional image he had not looked at in over twenty years. More, in fact. As he looked it, he seemed to fall into the picture of a beautiful young woman, clad in a luxurious blue gown that hung from her body in classical lines, promising beautiful secrets underneath. Her head was bent down at an angle, but she was looking up from beneath her lashes at him with a secret smile, as if she knew something that he did not. Behind her, a breath-taking lake sparkled under the Naboo sun, while in the distance blue, snow-capped mountains rose in splendor. It was the most beautiful thing Vader had ever seen, before or since.

His eyes stung with the need to shed tears his seared tear ducts could not produce. "Computer, display image 1023, Vader priority one override. Side-by-side comparison."

Luke Skywalker's face appeared. It had been an image taken directly from the rebel database at Hoth, and re-assembled from the corrupted original left behind by the rebel's attempt to obliterate their database. The eyes were definitely from the father, but Vader could see much of the boy's mother in his face.

"M'lord?" Piett's voice barked through the chamber. Vader crushed an urge to revert to his old ways at the interruption. He knew the admiral would not interrupt him in his chamber save for the most important issues.

"Speak."

"Lord, we have received a priority transmission from Coruscant requesting your immediate attention."

The computer had completed its repairs on his respirator; Vader ordered his helmet and mask replaced, and in moments stepped from the hyperbaric chamber, feeling refreshed in a way he had not felt in decades.

"I shall receive it in my chambers," Vader said. Instantly, a holographic image of Sate Pestage appeared.

The mechanical breathing that filled the room came to a stop as the refreshed feeling left Vader. "Yes, Lord Vader," the prior who had once been Sate Pestage said. "I have found the path to Origin. Even now, the glory of the Ori is being made known to all of Coruscant, and the whole of your petty empire. Your admirals and moffs have been shown the way, as have the other leaders here. Your feeble efforts to stop the Ori are now at an end. Come back and accept the power of the Ori, or you will be destroyed."

The transmission ended. "Piett," Vader called.

Piett came immediately into Vaders quarters and snapped to attention. "M'lord?"

"Coruscant has fallen to the Ori," Vader said. "I must assume the military leadership there has either been converted, or killed."

Piett gaped. "By the stars…m'Lord, what are your wishes?"

"Contact all the fleet elements throughout the empire for an inter-fleet conference. I need to know the status of all assets before we can determine our next step. For now, we are the only thing standing between the people of the Empire and the Ori."

The conference, once Piett was able to contact everyone, looked grim. There were a total of fifteen regular admirals still free from the Ori taint, plus a handful of moffs. "There were almost two thousand Star Destroyers at Coruscant when the Grand Vizier fell," Admiral Pelleon noted. "I know of many other ships that were lost to tainted worlds. We have a total of two thousand ships ourselves, plus your vessel, Lord Vader, but the fleet is spread throughout the galaxy. If it came to civil war, we would be hard pressed."

"What of our production facilities?" Vader asked the assemblage of holographic images.

"The Kuat and Seinar shipyards are still ours for the moment," Admiral Kellis said. "In fact, we still retain most of our production facilities, but I have to assume the enemy will move against those soon, and with all the worlds that have fallen, we will have personnel issues very soon. And, m'lord, I must point out another threat. What of the Rebel Alliance? If there were any time to attack, it would be now, while the empire is at its weakest."

"True," Vader noted, "However, I do not believe the Alliance will attack at this time. I believe they are waiting. They must realize the Ori are a greater threat to them than the Empire."

"What do we do next, Lord Vader?" Admiral Jonis said. Vader looked over the holographic images and held up a fist.

"We fight for the Rmpire. I have sent you all the tactical summary of my encounters. Study them, and learn from them. The vessels we've faced so far have not fared as well against kinetic attack. Use shield buster torpedoes or your own ships in concert with turbolaser batteries to destroy the enemy as quickly as you can. And then execute a Base Delta Zero on each and every tainted planet. We will wipe this plague from the galaxy."

The admirals bowed as a whole to the dark lord, and one by one flickered out, leaving only Piett. The admiral studied his commander for a moment, then bowed but did not stand to leave the conference room. "M'lord, may I speak?"

"Speak, Piett."

"We have determined there are over 80 tainted worlds so far, mostly on the outer or mid rim, but with Coruscant fallen, we can expect more core worlds to fall. We are discussing hundreds of billions of sentient beings. Are we going to kill them all? What kind of Empire will be left?"

Piett waited for the Sith lord's wrath and knew his life could very well be forfeit. Instead, Darth Vader turned and walked toward a window. "I know of no other course, Admiral," he admitted after a moment. "These Priors are more powerful than any but the Jedi, and there is no longer a Jedi order to fight them. And now there is no Emperor, nor Imperial Center."

Piett cleared his throat, nervous to be hearing an admission of doubt from the most powerful figure in the empire. "Lord Vader, I owe my command, and in fact my whole career, to you. I would gladly give my life for our Empire, upon your order. I beg your forgiveness for saying this, but are there really no more Jedi to fight them?"

Just as Obi-Wan had said, Vader mused.

Again, Piett waited for the wrath, and again was relieved to find none. "You know of Skywalker?"

"I know of yours and the Emperor's interest in him," Piett said. "Therefore I assumed it was because he was a Jedi."

"He is a Jedi, I feel it," Vader said as he stared through a viewport at the stars. "Untrained in many ways, but with great power, like his father."

Piett said nothing more, letting the thoughts move on their own in Vader's head. He turned at last to leave, but stopped at Vader's next words. "You have served the empire well, Admiral. I am giving you a field promotion of Grand Admiral. I will inform the others of your rank and responsibilities. You will serve as high commander of the fleet under me."

"Thank you, m'lord."

"Do not thank me yet," Vader said. "You may regret the promotion all too soon."


	8. Chap 7: The Proposal

**Chapter Seven: The Proposal**

The refugees began pouring into the rebel fleet shortly after the fall of Saleucami, and with each subsequent planetary tainting of the Ori and purging by the Empire, more and more came in. Ships of every description, from vast luxury liners almost the size of _Home One_ to tiny personal transports barely the size of an A-wing, formed a massive fleet trailing behind the rebel ships.

"I don't see how we can keep this up," Mothma said at an advisory council meeting six months after the destruction of Dantooine. "We are running out of basic supplies, and I don't see how we can obtain new supplies without exhausting our already tenuous finances."

"Not to mention the fact that three of our largest financial backers have fallen to the Ori," Leia added. She remembered with a chill the milky eyes of a prior answering her holonet call to the rebel-friendly world of Jabim.

"We cannot continue to serve as an effective fighting force while protecting a civilian fleet of this size," Ackbar said. "Even with the assistance of those ships that have armament, we have nearly ten thousand civilian vessels now to protect. Any attack would result in high civilian casualties."

"We can't just abandon them, though," Mothma said. "We are fighting for all the people of the Republic. Could you imagine the political nightmare we would face if we turned those very citizens away?"

"We need not turn them away," Ackbar said, "but we must distance the military forces of the Alliance from the civilian ships if we are to have any military effectiveness at all."

Luke was sitting in the council not only as a commander, but as the last remaining Jedi knight. In response to the Mon Calamari's comment, he said: "What effect are we to have, Admiral? The empire has for all intents and purposes collapsed. Darth Vader is fighting a rearguard action, but for every world he sterilizes, two more fall. Everyone here knows the empire cannot win. So, what are we to do?"

"Do you have any suggestions, Commander?"

"I am thinking of the second prior we encountered at Sollust. He killed almost eighty men with a wave of his staff. They simply dropped dead."

"You were able to kill him easily enough, though," Rieekan pointed out.

"Because I am a Jedi. The Force recoils from these priors," he told the council, which consisted of Ackbar, Leia, Mothma, General Rieekan and General Crix Madine. "Everyone here knows that the Emperor was evil, but in the end he was still human. He displayed human qualities of greed and hatred and manipulating those qualities could manipulate the man. These Ori are not human; their servants have had the humanity burned out of them. There is no reasoning with the Ori, no appeal to common goals or enemies. When they say all who do not worship must be destroyed, they mean that literally. I have sensed billions of sentient beings dying at the hands of the priors. Many of the worlds Vader has destroyed were already dead from the priors, or vastly depopulated. These priors are evil in a way beyond that of the emperor, and I fear the priors have only shown us the merest tip of their power. They are the complete absence of light. Right now, they are the greatest enemy we and this whole galaxy face, not the shattered remnants of the Empire. The fact the empire has not attacked us recently despite our more open showing suggests Lord Vader feels the same way."

"You are suggesting we join Darth Vader's forces against Ori?" Ackbar said, as if joking.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting."

The advisory council fell silent. Luke sat calming himself with the Force and knowing that he may not sit on the council for long. "Darth Vader is a brutal murderer," Mon Mothma said. "He is personally responsible for the murder of the Jedi Order, of which you are the last. He tortured Princess Leia, and destroyed the planet Alderaan. Do you think he would hesitate even a moment to destroy us all?"

"Since my encounter with him at Bespin, I have been researching Darth Vader," Luke said, "and what I have found makes me think he would not reject an alliance outright. I wasn't able to find a complete record, of course, but in all of the campaigns he has led under the Emperor, he has always made a point of sparing civilian targets if possible. I'll grant he's shown no mercy in this conflict, but once the Ori have a world, those that remain quickly become loyal worshippers. And from what Leia said, it was Grand Moff Tarkin who destroyed Alderaan. There is no question that Vader has committed terrible crimes, but having faced him personally, I believe he would much sooner fight the Ori than fight us. Like me, he has to feel how the Force reacts to them."

Mothma's console began blinking; she looked over a text message and visibly paled. "Well," she said in a short, clipped voice, "it appears, Commander Skywalker, that we are going to be testing your belief. Darth Vader's entire fleet has just exited hyperspace and is heading toward _Home One_."

The whole council stood as one and rushed to the bridge. Once there, Ackbar took his elevated command chair and began barking orders. The military ships of the Alliance quickly broke away from the civilian ships to form a shield against the imperial threat. Watching from the bridge, Luke could see the massive _Executor_ leading hundreds upon hundreds of smaller Star Destroyers.

In the back of his mind, he felt a presence he had not felt since Endor. "_I have not come to fight you, my son_," the voice whispered through the Force.

"We're being hailed," the communications officer said.

"Put it on the holonet," Ackbar commanded. Mothma and the others turned toward the projector unit as Darth Vader's image appeared before them, imposing even at only six inches.

"Whom am I addressing?" he said, his deep mechanical basso echoing across the bridge.

"I am Mon Montha, leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic," Mothma declared.

"I wish to speak to you and your council in person concerning the state of the empire," Vader said. "I promise no action will be taken against your fleet or the civilians you lead during our talks. If afterward we are not in agreement, I will allow you and your followers to withdraw unharmed."

"You will forgive me, Lord Vader, if I have no desire to set foot on your ship."

"I will come to you," Vader said. "I will bring only two people with me."

Luke felt Motha vacillating between outright rejection and acceptance. "Mothma," Luke said, "I do not sense a threat. I believe he truly does wish to speak only."

"And if he comes to kill us all?"

"Then you will have a Jedi knight by your side, willing to die to save you."

Her eyes narrowed as she studied Luke's face. "I believe you would, Jedi Skywalker. And I thank you for that." She took a very deep breath and then looked down at the patiently waiting form of Dark Vader. "Very well, Lord Vader. You and your assistants may come aboard _Home One_. We will be waiting for you."

The image flickered away. "By the Force," she whispered, "I hope we know what we're doing."

The shuttle arrived on board _Home One_ an hour later. Mon Mothma waited personally in the hanger, with Luke and Leia on either side. To Leia's right stood Han Solo, his hand hovering by his blaster. Ackbar, Madine and Rieekan all stood behind the Alliance leader, with over a hundred troops behind them. The official explanation for the soldiers was as an honor guard. The fact that they were comprised entirely of Madine's crack special forces unit was simply a bonus.

The shuttle came to a rest in the center of the otherwise evacuated bay. Almost as soon as the shuttle came to a stop, the ramp lowered and everyone there saw the black boots of the Sith lord. Behind and to his left came the newly promoted Grand Admiral Firmus Piett, resplendent in his white grand admiral uniform. To his right walked a slim young woman in the black of an imperial officer, but without insignia, her red hair gathered under her cap.

Luke felt his eyes pulled to her, and glancing briefly across Mon Mothma's tense face to Leia, he could see his sister felt it as well. The young woman at Vader's side carried an aura of power only a trained force wielder could possess.

Vader stopped at the edge of a line delineating the ray and particle shield lines that would protect the Alliance leadership in the event of treachery. However, he stopped not in front of Mon Mothma, but Luke. "Jedi Skywalker. I regret we were unable to meet at Endor. It would have proven and interesting conversation." Madine cleared his throat, trying to cover his surprise.

"As am I," Luke answered, pointedly ignoring the general. "You've met Princess Leia Organa."

Vader turned to her and bowed. "On more than one occasion."

"I know you as well, Lord Vader," she said. Luke felt a touch of pride that his sister kept the rage out of her voice, though she could not hide the ice.

"This is Grand Admiral Firmus Piett, and my apprentice, Mara Jade. I give you leave to search my shuttle, should you wish it," Vader said. "We have much to discuss."

"Indeed," Mothma said. "But first, Lord Vader, I must insist that you relinquish your lightsaber, and your apprentice's as well."

Mara Jade looked as if she would sooner ignite hers and slaughter everyone around her, but Vader wordlessly pulled his from his belt. Luke stepped forward past the shielding demarcation line and relieved him of his saber. As he did so, Vader noticed the cylinder hanging from Luke's belt. "You have completed a new lightsaber."

"Yes," Luke said.

"Your skills are complete. You truly are a Jedi."

"Like my father before me," Luke said simply. He turned to the apprentice and struggled to keep from sucking in his breath. Eyes the most startling and beautiful shade of green he had ever seen glared up into his.

"Your blade, Apprentice Jade?"

With a last look at her new master, Mara unclipped weapon and handed it to Luke. "I'll want that back."

Luke looked down at it, then back at Vader in surprise. "This was mine," he said softly.

"Recovered from Bespin," Vader said. "I kept it, in case we should ever meet again. Until my apprentice reaches your level of skill and builds her own, she shall use this one."

Mothma and the generals stood watching in rapt fascination. Luke realized he was making a spectacle of himself, and returned to the side of the Alliance leader. "Lord Vader and guests," Mothma said, "we have a room ready."

As the two groups walked toward the main hanger doors, Luke noticed an odd exchange. General Crix Madine, former imperial officer and defector to the cause, and Grand Admiral Firmus Piett, every bit the Imperial officer, stepped to within a foot of each other and between them exchanged two words. "Crix," Piett said. "Firmus," Madine responded with a nod. Then the two men turned and walked side by side in silence with the rest of the party.

The conference room featured a large oval table with sufficient seating for twenty people. At Vader's insistence, however, it held only half that, consisting of Vader and his party, plus Mothma, Luke, Leia, Han, and the rest of the advisory council of the Alliance.

When the rest of the staff left, Vader held up his head and scanned the room. "All listening and recording devices have been deactivated," Luke said, sensing his thoughts. "We may speak in private."

Vader nodded and turned back to the waiting rebel leaders. "Coruscant has fallen to the Ori, as has the Correllian System and a host of other Core Worlds. The tactic of purging I have used up to this point as proven unsuccessful, and I am loathe to continue the tactic without any result."

"We did not know about Coruscant," Mothma admitted, "but we heard of Correllia. I cannot say we are surprised. Jedi Skywalker has encountered two priors, and his reports were disturbing."

Vader turned and stared at the Jedi. "You were able to defeat them?"

"With some effort, but yes, I was."

"I have personally dispatched three," Vader said. "In the six months since this war began, I believe we have killed perhaps fifty priors. In that same time, we have lost seventy two Star Destroyers and the Death Star, with personnel losses numbering in the millions. And the emperor, of course."

"It is difficult for us to mourn his loss, Lord Vader," Ackbar said.

"Yes," was Vader's laconic response. "I have determined that only those strong in the Force can hope to defeat these creatures and their gods."

Finally, after sweeping across the room, Vader returned his attention back to Luke. "You want me to join you," Luke said. He nodded to Mara. "And you've taken an apprentice for the same reason. To what, raise an army of Sith?"

"The empire is dying," Vader said. "Nothing can stop that now. I fight now not for the empire, justice or even order, but for our very survival as a civilization. These Ori are an abomination, and their servants are a cancer in the galaxy. On Ori controlled worlds, civilians are forced to discard their technology and assume agrarian lives under the most primitive conditions. Switching from an industrial to agrarian society that quickly leads to mass starvation in the cities, or to plagues. The Ori seem to bring many plagues."

"Hence your hoped-for army of Sith?" Leia said.

"Not Sith," Vader said. "As I said, I have dispatched three priors, but in each case they grew stronger as I drew more strength from the Dark Side of the Force. With the third, I was nearly defeated, though the Force was with me. The prior released a weapon designed to kill the Sith. My apprentice was hurt. Given time, I believe that the priors could easily defeat any Sith. For this reason, I believe only the Jedi can fight them."

"And you're supposedly training your apprentice as a Jedi?" Leia demanded.

Mara opened her mouth in a sharp retort, but closed it against instantly when Vader laid a hand on her arm. "I am training my apprentice in the ways of the Force, using techniques common to both the Jedi and Sith. Should you join me, Jedi Skywalker, I would teach these techniques to you as well. As powerful as these priors are, we have each shown that they are not impervious from harm face to face, or completely immune from the skills of a Force wielder."

"What strategy do you propose?" Ackbar said.

"The Ori are not native to this galaxy. From my last encounter with a prior, I was able to discern from his mind that they are in fact from several galaxies away. It is my belief that the ships I have encountered are arriving at a single point here in our galaxy, and then are spreading to their target worlds. If we could locate where they are entering our galaxy and control or destroy it, we might be able to stop the influx of prior ships. After that, it would be a matter of the Jedi to seek out the remaining priors out and destroy them one at a time. In the meantime, we seek and train every person we can find in the power of the Force."

"An army of force wielders trained by Darth Vader," Leia snorted. "I can't think of much worse than that."

"I can," Luke said softly. "The Ori. You feel it as well, don't you, Lord Vader?"

The Dark Lord sat studying the Jedi, and then quietly searched every face in the room. "These things cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. You and I, Luke, are the only ones who have any hope to stop them."

"You would have me join you in your fleet?" Luke said.

Even with the mechanical basso, Luke could hear the hope. "Yes, with any personnel who wish to join you."

Vader paused and turned to face Mon Mothma. "As a gesture of good will, I am giving you two Star Destroyers. Their crews were decimated in the most recent encounter with the priors. Although we were able to repair the ships, we do not have sufficient personnel to fully crew them. The ships will come with skeleton crews to be filled out at your leisure. Each ship is also carrying ten thousand metric tones of foodstuffs for distribution to the civilian refugees."

Mothma's expression became unreadable. "That is unexpectedly generous, Lord Vader. However, how did you know we had the civilians under our protection?"

"Because your fleet is where I have been sending them," Vader said. "As your own council has undoubtedly pointed out, it is impossible to maintain an effective fighting force while simultaneously guarding civilians. Given your penchant for politics and your idealism, I felt the refugees would fare better with the rebellion than with me. There are far more coming, I promise you. Even on those worlds I cannot sterilize, at the first sighting of a prior, all who can flee their world. Many consider death better than the existence the prior's offer. The food is merely my acknowledgement of the service you are providing to the civilians of the empire."

"You are full of surprises, Lord Vader," Mothma said. "I hope you understand that we will need to discuss your proposal. The loss of Jedi Skywalker would be sorely felt."

"I understand," Vader said. He stood, as did all at the table. "I ask that you decide in ten hour's time. The situation is desperate, and we cannot afford to tarry."

The dark lord held out his hands, and the saber that had rested on the table in front of Luke flew across the room. Before anyone could raise an alarm, he calmly clipped it to his belt. Mara started to reach out for hers, but hesitated. Luke realized suddenly that she was unsure she could repeat the feat, and did not want to risk failing in front of the others.

Luke stood and walked around the table to hand her the blade. "Take care of it," he told her. She glared at him still, though the glare seemed to soften with the understanding of what he'd done. "It was my father's once. It means a great deal to me."

Without further word, Vader turned and left the room with Piett and Jade trailing along. Luke remained standing to watch them leave. As they turned the corner around the door, he caught one last furtive glance from the Dark Lord's apprentice before she disappeared.


	9. Chap 8: Darth Vader

_I've had a few positive reviews--thank you! I'm glad everyone is enjoying it and hope you continue to do so. The whole story __came out to over 100000 words, so there is plenty more to come!_

_Thanks for reading!_

_D-M_

****

**Chapter Eight: Darth Vader's Dream**

"This is an extraordinary situation," Madine said when they were alone. "I cannot believe that was the real Darth Vader sitting here saying these words."

"I'm also suspicious, Mon," Ackbar said. "With the emperor dead, Vader may be attempting to consolidate the empire under his rule before striking against the Ori in full force."

Mothma made no move, nor said anything. She merely sat with her head bent sideways to look at Luke. "Luke, I am not force sensitive, but there was something between the two of you that I need to understand."

Luke nodded, realizing it was impossible to keep Mon Mothma, one of the smartest people he knew, in the dark for long. He walked back to his seat and sat down. "From what I understand, when the Sith become apprentices, they abandon their given name," Luke said. "Darth Vader was a Jedi knight once. His given name was Anakin."

"Anakin?" Mothma said, her brows drawn together to piece the memories together. Down the table, though, General Rieekan leaned forward and stared at Luke with the pursed lips of a man who had heard something profoundly disturbing.

"The Hero Without Fear," the old general said. "I served with him and General Kenobi as an officer in the wars, in command of a clone battalion. Anakin Skywalker."

"Skywalker?" Finally the light dawned behind the eyes of the Alliance's leader. "By the Force," she whispered. "You mean he's…"

"Yes," Luke said. "I found out at Bespin. During my recent absences, I had been training with a Jedi master named Yoda. He confirmed that Darth Vader was my father."

"Yoda!" Mothma exclaimed. "Is he still alive?"

"No, he passed into the Force during my last visit to him, before the planned attack at Endor. To my knowledge, he was the last Jedi master living."

The whole council sat in silence, but Rieekan continued looking at him with a sour expression. "You've already stated a desire to ally with Vader. Now we know why. Are you sure you're doing this to fight the Ori, Luke, and not because he is your father?"

"I was going to face him on Endor, before the Ori changed everything," Luke confessed. "I was either going to bring him back to the Light side, or die fighting him. But sitting in here with him now, I can tell you that he is different. Something has happened to him recently that has made him question his Sith training. Perhaps the death of the emperor has freed him in a way. I can't fully explain it, but I believe he could be a very powerful ally."

Mothma turned to Leia. "You are Luke's apprentice, did you feel this?"

Beside the princess, Han Solo sputtered. "Apprentice? When the hell did that happen?"

Leia took his hand and smiled in a way that told him the answers would come later. "I felt something," she admitted. "When I met him on the Death Star, he radiated dread and coldness. Now, it was different. It's hard for me to explain."

Mothma turned and stared out the window. "I did meet Anakin Skywalker once, in a gala after the battle of Coruscant. He and Kenobi had saved the Chancellor. If we had known then what we know now, we would not have been celebrating. He was striking, I'll give him that. But I don't understand how he could have children. The Jedi strictly forbade marriage among their kind. They lived essentially as monks."

Luke blinked in surprise. "Yoda never told me that," he admitted.

"Makes you want to reconsider your profession, don't it, kid?" Han said.

Leia elbowed him in the ribs.

"We will be rebuilding a new Jedi Order," Luke said. "Since the Force is obviously linked to genetic lineage, that rule will not be revived." He looked back at Mothma. "A Jedi for two star destroyers and thousands of tonnes of food. It seems to be a good trade."

"And will your apprentice join you?"

"When gundarks fly out my…" Han started to say. Leia elbowed him again. "I don't know, Mon," she said.

"I want to see Vader again," Luke finally said. "If you make the request, he will come alone. It think Leia and I should both meet him. Without anyone else in the room, I think we'll have a much better idea of how to proceed. And Mon, I believe it would be better for everyone if we keep Darth Vader's true identity a secret for now."

Mothma nodded, and then leaned over her console and touched a hidden screen cue. "Commander, has the imperial shuttle left yet?"

"No, ma'am," the commander said. "Lord Vader's party just boarded, but they have not left."

"Please signal Lord Vader and ask if he would be willing to meet with Jedi Skywalker again."

"Yes ma'am, I…Ma'am, the shuttle has actually just signaled us. Lord Vader says he will meet with Commander Skywalker."

Mothma looked up and stared. "I told him I wanted to meet with him," Luke confessed.

She nodded, and then stood. "I hope this is the Force guiding you, Luke, and not a son's desire for a father. It would be devastating not just to the Alliance, but to me personally, if we were ever to lose you."

"I appreciate that, Mon. But this is the right course we're on. I can feel it."

The rest of the advisory council stood and left the room, except for Luke, Leia and Han. The two turned and stared at him. "What?" Han said. "I'm not leaving you two alone with him. I don't even know what the hell you're doing here, Leia. What is this, about an apprentice? When did this happen?"

Luke looked at Leia. "You didn't tell him?"

"It never seemed like the right time," she admitted. To Han, who was still sputtering in indignation, she leaned over and kissed him passionately until the sputtering stopped. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I'm apprenticing with Luke to be a Jedi because I am his sister. Luke and I are twins."

The look on Han's face was similar to that of a gundark that had just been slapped silly by a Wookie. "Twins? You guys don't look anything alike, except you're both kinda short."

Luke snorted and grinned. "I'm pretty sure with us being boy and girl that we're not identical twins."

"I've seen the genetic test," Leia said. "We're twins."

"Okay, so that explains the apprentice thing. Doesn't explain the…oh Sith spit!" It hit him, so hard he blinked and shied away from both Skywalkers. "If you're his sister then that means…. By the Stars, Leia, you mean that THING is your dad? And you can handle that after all he's done to you—to us?"

"Please, Han," she said, pleading. "This is so hard for me. Just try to understand."

"Understand what? That you're thinking about going off and joining a monster?"

"No, that I love you," she said softly. "And that if you love me, you need to trust me."

That shut him up perhaps better than anything she could have said. "The love card," he muttered. "Good thing you don't play sabacc. Okay, you go meet daddy. But I swear if he does anything to you I am going to make it my point in life to destroy him!"

"I'm sure than alone will make me safe," Leia said with a gentle grin. "Kiss me and get out of here, you scruffy nerfherder."

"Scruffy? I shaved and combed and everything. I ain't scruffy!" He did kiss her, though, and he did leave. A few moments later, they both heard the mechanical breath of their father as he walked back into the room. He glided across the floor to the seat across from them, and sat down.

"I am surprised to see you here, Princess," Vader said. "I know my presence must make you uncomfortable."

"You have no idea," she muttered.

"Father," Luke said, "tell me more about the last fight you had with the Ori. You said they had a weapon against the Sith?"

"A light from his staff," Vader said, choosing not to comment on Luke's mode of address. "It infected Mara Jade's force presence and somehow turned the darkness inside her against itself, burning her from the inside. Had she not been able to calm herself through a Jedi meditative trance I taught her, it would have killed her."

"What of you?"

"I felt no rage when the Ori struck; it did not affect me."

"Isn't rage supposed to be what fuels the Sith? Rage and hate? That's what Master Yoda said."

"So Yoda did survive," Vader said. "The Emperor had thought as much, and for many years raged that he could not find him."

"Why didn't the weapon hurt you, father?"

Vader turned in his seat and looked out of the viewports that lined his side of the conference room. "It is difficult for me to explain, my son. You have no idea of the Emperor's power. His mind was everywhere, his awareness constant. Endor was to be a trap—when your fleet arrived it was to find a fully operational battle station. He also told me you would come to me."

Leia sucked in her breath and stared at Luke, but said nothing. Instead, Luke said: "And now?"

"And now…" Vader said. "And now everything I thought I fought for has slipped away. The Empire I knew has collapsed. The Emperor is dead. And I…" He paused, pushed himself from his seat and stood staring out a port window at the stars. "I had a dream, many years ago. I dreamed that I was a father, and your mother was at my side, and I had children whom I loved and who loved me. It was a very powerful dream, one that had been all but destroyed by the Emperor and my own short-sightedness. But since his death, I have been having it again, though I know it to be foolishness."

At the word children, Leia averted her eyes and stared at her blank console in the table. Vader turned and stared at her a moment, then back at Luke. He returned to his seat and leaned forward intently. "You are strong in the Force, Princess" he said. "I felt no such strength from you before. But it is familiar. You look familiar."

"What did my mother look like?" Luke asked.

Without turning his attention away from Leia, Vader said: "She was a beautiful woman, with long brown hair and eyes, flawless skin and a piercing mind. She was a senator of the Old Republic, and in her youth, an elected queen of the Naboo. She was my wife."

Leia looked up, startled. "You married her?"

"I loved her," Vader said. "From the moment I first saw her on my way to the Jedi temple, I loved her. She was older than I was, by many years, but I did not care. It never occurred to me that a queen and senior senator would not love me, so blinded was I. Her name of state was Amidala, but her given name was Padmé Naberrie, and she looked very much like you, Princess Leia _**Organa".**_

Vader burst to his feet again with sufficient violence that Luke's hand darted toward his saber. Instead of attacking, though, Vader began pacing next to the windows, his hands balled into a fist. Whatever changes he might have underwent, Luke felt definite rage now. Rage and terrible, unbearable sorrow.

"Padmé was pregnant," Vader said in a low mumble. "But when…I was told the pregnancy ended with her. The holonet of the funeral showed her still pregnant when they carried her to the funeral pyre. But she had to have lived long enough for you to be born. The Emperor lied to me! He lied to ME!"

He roared in rage and brought his fist down on the table with such power the plaswood surface shattered. All the chairs in the room flew away from the table and crashed into the far walls with speed enough to break them. Two guards rushed in, their blaster's drawn, but stopped when they saw furniture flying through the room in a Force storm. Luke stopped them with an upraised hand, and motioned them to leave. When they were gone, he locked the door with the Force.

Vader stood as if frozen to the floor, his helmeted head bent low, a barely audible growl, or groan, emanated from his vocoder as his rage took form around the room. Leia blinked, stunned by the outburst and the sheer POWER of Vader's rage. Luke hopped quickly to the other side of the shattered table.

"Father!"

Vader looked up, his expression lost behind the mask. "If only I had known," he moaned.

Leia walked around the table until she stood behind her brother. "Then what, Lord Vader?" she demanded without pity. "What would have been different? Do you think the Emperor would have allowed Darth Vader's children to live? Do you think he would have allowed our mother to live?"

"I went to him to save your mother!" Vader roared. "I foresaw her death, and Palpatine said only through the Dark Side of the force could I save her. Everything I did, I did to save her!"

"And did it work?" she said coldly.

Suddenly every flying article in the room fell to the floor. The air became still and cold. Into this equally stunning silence, Vader said: "No." His shoulders sagged and his head dropped again. "I didn't save her. In my rage and jealousy, I hurt her. The Emperor told me I had killed her. He lied to me."

"That's what the Sith do, Vader," Leia said unmercifully. "They lie. And you were a fool to believe those lies."

"Yes." He looked up at his children, seeing for the first time everything that he had missed. "I am sorry."

Leia rolled her eyes and turned her back on him in disgust. When at last she turned back, the wall of black stood in front of her, an unlit lightsaber in his hands. Luke stood behind him, watching with obvious worry.

"Take it," Vader said, holding the weapon to her. "I cannot take away what I have done to you. I accept your justice, if it is what you need to join my forces. Take it and strike me down. I will not resist."

"Leia," Luke said.

She picked up the blade and stared at the dark figure. "I dreamed about killing you," she said.

"And I dreamed of you," Vader said. "I just never realized it was actually you I dreamed of. I deserve your wrath, and I accept whatever justice you decide to give."

She activated the saber and stared at the red blade. "I can't love you, Darth Vader. My father was Bail Organa. You will never be my father."

"I deserve and ask for nothing," Vader said.

She deactivated the blade and threw it at him. He caught it easily. "If I go with you, Han comes with me."

This time it was Luke's turn to blink in surprise. Just like that, the tension in the room eased as Leia made her decision. Vader sensed it as well, and stepped back. "As I said in the council, you may bring whatever personnel you wish. We are suffering staff shortages and would be glad of the personnel. You may even bring ships, though I doubt Ackbar would be willing to part with any."

"What of the other imperial officers?" Leia demanded. "I can't believe the admirals and moffs would be keen to let us join. What about Grand Admiral Piett?"

"This was in part his suggestion," Vader said, "though I was coming to the same conclusion because of my encounter with the last prior, and…a visit from an old friend. I survived not through my powers as a Sith. In fact, the Prior had all but defeated me. Believing I was to die soon, I thought of your mother and in the moment he struck I was at peace. That peace saved my life. As for the others—all of us know the New Order died with the Emperor, and that we are not fighting for the Empire, but for the people in it. They will not protest."

"And Jade?" Luke said. "I sensed much anger in her."

"She was the Emperor's Hand," Vader said. "She was under his thrall and was deeply affected by his power, and by his death. She is still finding herself and her own path. But her power in the Force is great. It may be that she is better served as your apprentice than as mine, but that will have to wait."

Luke turned and stared at his sister. "Han would follow you through the Maw Cluster and back again, so you know he'll come. And Chewie will come with him."

"Who else?" she said.

"Madine, probably," Luke said. "Without the need for strikes against imperial targets, I think he would get bored. Possibly General Rieekan."

"Rieekan would be welcome," Vader said. "He was a good soldier in his youth, and a valiant officer."

"Then it's decided?" Luke said.

Leia took a deep breath and stared out the window. "I can't believe I'm even considering this," she muttered. "Okay, we go. But if I sense so much as a whisper of the Dark Side out of you, the deal is off."

"I cannot promise no whispers, as it has been my life since before you were born," Vader said, "but I will endeavor not to act on any Dark Side urges I may have."

"Such as?" Luke said.

"Such as strangling a certain Correllian smuggler for thinking he is worthy to love my daughter."

"Don't you even…" Leia stared to say, and then stopped. "Did you just try to make a joke?"

Vader said nothing at first, and his mask gave no clues to his intent. "I will return to my ship. Admiral Piett will work with you regarding any logistics needed for the transfer of supplies or personnel. I will await you on the _Executor._

He turned and left the siblings alone. "Did Darth Vader make a joke?" Leia demanded of Luke. "He was joking, right?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know, Leia, sometimes I feel like strangling Han too." He made a show of squeezing his fingers together, and then ran from his sister's righteous anger.


	10. Chap 9: Adjustments

**Chapter Nine: Adjustments**

Naturally, Mothma was not thrilled at the prospect of losing not just the Alliance's greatest fighter, but also one its most gifted administrators. In addition, she was losing two members of her advisory council in Madine and Rieekan, two squadrons of fighters, including Rogue squadron now led by Commander Antilles, and a frigate that was to serve as the base for the Rogue and Green squadrons.

Lando Calrission surprised them all by staying behind. "I like it here," he said when Leia and Han asked him. "And I don't like it there. Imperials leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"You and me both, buddy," Han said. But of course Han was going, because Leia was going.

"May the Force be with you," Mon Mothma said as she gave both Luke and Leia a deep hug. Feeling she had the right to know, they had told her of their own relationship, though Mothma at the time did not seem as surprised. "There was always something oddly similar between the two of you," she said.

Now, as they were packing their supplies aboard the_ Millenium Falcon_, Luke looked into Mothma's eyes. "This is the right thing, Mothma. Even if we defeat the Ori, the Empire will never come back. That thing that leads them is as much Anakin Skywalker now as he ever was Darth Vader. When this is over, I think the Alliance will have a very good chance of accomplishing its goals. Democracy and freedom could be returned to the galaxy once more. In the meantime, Admiral Piett has issued orders to the entire Imperial Navy that any ship identifying itself as an Alliance craft will not be hampered, boarded or interfered with, and that effective immediately all Alliance personnel have been granted a full pardon for any past actions against the empire."

"Your father is in a generous mood," Mothma said.

"He knows who the real enemy is."

"I trust your judgment, Luke. Good luck. And to you as well, Leia. May the Force be with you both."

The _Falcon_ left the hangar of _Home One_ minutes later. Han stared at the big ship with a wistful expression on his face. "Feels like I'm never going to see her again," he said. Chewbacca grunted, and the _Falcon_ spun around to face the _Executor_. "And I never thought I'd have to see that monster again," he said. "All right, Chewie, let's take her in."

Luke and Leia said in the passenger seats and leaned forward to get a good look at their new home. "That's a big ship," Leia said.

"Yeah," Han muttered. "A very big ship, filled with lots and lots of people who would like us dead."

"Han, you could say that about _Home One_," Luke said. "Everyday I heard more screams of rage about the last Sabbac game you won than I heard complaints about the empire."

"What can I say? I'm a man of many talents."

"And you cheat," Leia pointed out.

"I do not!" She looked at him, and he grinned. "Okay, on occasion I have been known to assist the odds a bit, but not in any big games. I won the _Falcon_ here fair and square."

Chewbacca snickered; Han looked injured but said nothing else as he flipped the comm switch. "_Executor_, this is the _Millenium Falcon_ requesting permission to land."

"Permission is granted," Piett's own voice came over the comm. "Please release navigational control and we will guide you in."

Han leaned back and let the larger ship's tractor beams take over. "Okay, this is it. No backing out now."

They watched through the cockpit window as the _Falcon_ drifted into the main hanger lock, then drifted toward one of the many smaller hangars lining the interior of the massive main bay. Whole frigates could have fitted into the main bay area, such was its size. They passed through the atmospheric shields and landed gracefully in the middle of the pad. Directly in front of them stood Vader, Piett, two junior officers, and Mara Jade.

"She's a cutie, ain't she?" Han said to Luke.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to tell her that," Luke said. "She was the emperor's personal assassin."

"Yeah, maybe. Still cute, though."

Leia simply glared at him. He lifted his shoulders as if to say "_What_?" but never actually spoke. "Let's go say hello to daddy," Leia said at last, her voice dripping sarcasm.

When they exited, Grand Admiral Piett bowed and spoke first. "For the sake of the Navy bureaucracy, General Solo, you will retain your Alliance rank. Princess, you and Jedi Skywalker have also been given the nominal rank of generals. This will make command decisions easier for both sides, and will also ensure proper quarters. For the moment, I think it would be wiser to keep our forces segregated."

"Thank you, Admiral, we agree," Leia said. She looked at Vader, who in turn returned her gaze in silence.

Piett looked at both parties, and then coughed conspicuously. "Yes, well, if you will follow Lieutenant Meize he will show you to your quarters. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you," Leia said.

"I would be honored if you and your party would join me for dinner tonight," Vader said.

Han stared at the mask and said: "Do you eat?"

Piett blanched the color of bone. Mara Jade's eyes bulged almost to the point of popping. Even Leia turned and stared. "What?" Han demanded. "The man wears a mask. How does he get food into his mouth?"

"My apologies, Lord Vader," Leia said. She grabbed the Correllian's hand and dragged him along after Lieutenant Meize, with Chewbacca a step behind snickering.

"They will not share quarters," Vader said when they were gone and only Luke and Mara remained.

Luke couldn't help but smile and said, "You know, father, I've wondered the same thing. How do you eat?"

And here Luke thought Mara's expression could not have appeared more shocking. "Father?" she whispered.

"There is little sense in pretense," Luke said to her. "Darth Vader is my father. The princess is his daughter and my twin sister. If you are to be part of the new Jedi order, you might as well be aware of the people you will be training with."

Jade turned and stared at her master, her lips open as if with a half-asked question. "I am relatively sure we are not related, child," Vader said.

"Great, left out of the fun again," she muttered under her breath as she turned and stalked away.

"Well," Luke said when the two were alone, "if there was any test of your dark urges, I'd say you passed it by not killing Han right then."

"The day is still young."

Luke laughed, a free easy sound that made officers and troopers nearby look up in shock that anyone would dare laugh near Darth Vader. The two turned and began walking leisurely through the hanger toward Luke's new quarters. "So where to now?"

"Ilum," Vader said.

"I'm not familiar with that planet."

"Surprising," Vader admitted. "When I saw your lightsaber, I assumed you had been there. For millennia, it was where the Jedi went to obtain the focusing crystals for sabers."

"I made mine," Luke said.

"As did I, after I became Sith. I only returned to Ilum to hunt Jedi. I did not find any. I was ordered to destroy the planet, but that is one of the few orders I failed to carry out."

"Why?"

"Perhaps because a part of me knew this day would come. I believe there is a Jedi on Ilum. If she does not kill us on sight, she may consent to join us."

"Master Yoda said there were no others."

"She hid herself from the Force as well as Palpatine hid himself from the Jedi. It is intuition more than the Force that makes me think she is there. It is at the very least worth the effort to look."

"Of course. Are we going to continue to engage the Ori militarily?"

"I do not see how we can avoid that, although I believe now such engagements should only be in defense of specific targets. However, with the fall of Coruscant the Ori have obtained a fleet of star destroyers. Despite their assertions regarding the Path of Origin, I do not doubt they will make use of these assets."

At last they came to Luke's quarters and stepped inside. "Large room," he noted.

"I felt you would need room to train. I've converted a storage bay for larger training exercised. I have loaded several programs into your terminal based on my memories of old Jedi training techniques. You are very powerful, my son, but your training has been but a fraction required of the old Jedi. In my time, you would still be a padawan apprentice. You have many, many years to go before you master your powers."

"I know," Luke admitted. "I know just enough to realize how far I have to go."

"But do not doubt yourself. It was master Yoda who knighted me, though I'm sure he came to regret it. If he said you were a Jedi, then a Jedi you are."

Luke nodded, and couldn't help but feel a touch of relief. "There's so much you can tell me, about what it was like. I didn't know about the ban on marriage, for instance. I'm assuming you broke that rule."

Vader said nothing for a moment, but Luke could feel the spike of turmoil within. "I thought she was going to die," he said at last. "Yoda told me to learn to let go of everything I feared to lose. Palpatine told me I could save her, and he could show me how."

"They were both wrong," Luke said. "To be Jedi can't mean to lose your humanity. Love is what makes us what we are. I wonder what would have happened if the advice had been different; if Yoda had counseled you to bring mother to the temple so the Jedi could take care of her, and celebrate your union instead of force it into hiding."

Vader raised his head and stared at the light panels ahead. "Such speculation is pointless," he said at last. "Please join me for dinner. I will understand if your sister does not. I will be most understanding if General Solo does not."

"I think they're a package deal."

"She is a princess by birth and adoption."

"From what you've said, so was your wife."

Vader looked down at Luke. "And I was lower even than Solo as a child," he said softly. "You must have impressed Master Yoda with your wisdom, my son."

"He said I was reckless and too old."

"He said the same to me."

"I was twenty one."

"I was nine."

The two shared the silence for a moment, before Vader turned and left, leaving so much to be said.

0-0-0

Leia came to dinner, and Han came a step behind. The princess wore a long gone of white shimmersilk, with a golden Alderaanian medallion around her neck. The choice of jewelry was deliberate, and Vader accepted it for the rebuke it was. Solo wore dress trousers of dark navy blue with a tan vest over his crisp white shirt.

Chewbacca was simply furry.

Luke, of course, wore his dark tunic and slacks. Mara wore very similar clothes, though whether she was intentionally mimicking Luke no one could tell. They sat down to an array of delicacies from a dozen different worlds. Han dug in without a moments notice.

"So you guys have tried missiles, torpedoes and turbolasers on the things, and even rammed them. Sound like tough little buggers," Solo said.

"One such ship destroyed the Death Star," Vader said. "They are, to say the least, resilient."

"Any idea what powers them?"

"At a guess, I would say the Priors themselves," Vader said. "We have not been able to do an interior scan, but based on the low numbers of ships, I suspect the Priors are the sole power source, and that any mechanisms within the ships merely augment the prior's own powers."

"Those guys are pretty powerful, then," Solo said, for the first time looking cautious.

"They are," Vader said.

"We should discuss training," Luke pointed out.

"Yes. It was traditional that after a certain age, a Jedi's training was done through apprenticeship. Each knight or master would take a padawan, and the two would be bonded throughout the rest of their lives through the force. For obvious reasons, that will not work in this case. For one thing, there are not enough knights and masters, and for another, our students are adults."

"Is it true the Jedi took children?" Leia said. "The Imperial propaganda painted them as child stealers."

"That part is true," Vader said. "I was nine when I left Tattoine, and was even then considered too old to begin the training. Most children were identified by age six or younger, and were raised in crèches under a Jedi master. All contact with their families was severed, under the assumption that love and attachment could be twisted to the dark side of the force."

"And yet even with all that, there were still dark Jedi and Sith lords," Leia pointed out.

"Yes," Vader said. "To this day, I believe the Jedi's attempt to cut itself off from the galaxy led to its blindness."

"And you? You really are from Tattoine?" Luke said.

"Yes. I did not know Lars and Beru were killed by my stormtroopers until after the fact. I regretted their deaths, and would not have allowed it had I known. I spent very little time with them, but from what I know, your grandmother cared for them a great deal."

"Our grandmother," Leia whispered.

"Shmi Skywalker," Vader said. "The Skywalker name is an old and honorable one, but our family was not. Shmi and I were slaves under a Hutt crime lord."

Luke nodded, familiar with Tattoine society. Leia, however, looked appalled. "Slaves? My grandmother was a slave? Slavery was illegal even under the Empire."

Chewbacca roared his disagreement.

"Nothing is illegal on Tattoine," Luke added. "You were there, Leia. You know most of the people under Jabba were slaves."

"And our grandfather?"

There was silence for a moment; a reminder that they were not just children talking to their father, but Rebels talking to Darth Vader. When he spoke, he said: "I have no father."

Han nodded this time. "Yeah, I hear ya."

"You mistake me, General Solo. I had no biological father. Shmi Skywalker conceived through the power of the Force. My birth was foreseen by a Jedi prophecy. I was to bring balance to the force."

"Yeah, we know how that worked out," Han said.

"The Sith are dead," Luke said softly, as if to himself. "The Jedi order was wiped out, but the Jedi continue through the Skywalker children. The data crystal has been wiped clean, and now we can rebuild a new order for the galaxy. Perhaps it was the old Jedi Order itself that was out of balance."

"Perhaps," Vader said. From under the table, he pulled a lightsaber. He held his hand over it, and it slid silently across the smooth surface of the black table to rest before Leia. "You will need the saber for training. It belonged to a Jedi who fell in the Clone Wars many years ago."

"A trophy?" she demanded.

"A memento from the Battle of Geonosis. He was part of a Jedi force sent to rescue me, General Kenobi, and your mother. He died protecting us. He was a friend."

Leia gingerly reached out for the blade. "Yours and Mara's blades have a safety feature on them for training purposes," Vader continued. "The second switch on the hilt will strengthen the containment field with the effect of blunting the blade itself. You can spar without fear of harming yourselves or each other."

"What's the fun in that?" Mara demanded.

"I would be sad if she cut your nose off, Mara," Luke said.

"It'd look pretty strange," Han agreed.

"I've been sparring for longer than she has!"

"We shall find out tomorrow," Vader said. "In the meantime, we are going to seek out others to join us. For obvious reasons, it will be difficult to recruit Jedi to our cause. We will be at Ilum in a day. After that, I leave it to you regarding where to search out potential trainees."

"What about Kyle?" Leia asked. "Luke, didn't you say he was a Force sensitive?"

"Very much so," Luke said. "I completely forgot about him. We might have trouble finding him, though. He was in the Seinar shipyards, last I heard."

"A rebel spy is in the Seinar yards?" Vader asked, a hint of danger seeping into his voice. "Is he planning any sabotage?"

"I don't think so," Leia said. "He was gathering specs for the interceptor the yards were producing."

"How would he react if we attempted to obtain him?" Vader said.

"He'd shoot everybody and escape," Luke said. "He is very talented, father. Imagine Han here as a Force wielder."

Apparently it was an unpleasant image in the Dark Lord's mind. "Very well, after Ilum, we will travel to the Seinar shipyards to collect this Kyle."


	11. Chap 10: The Lost Jedi

**Chapter Ten: The Lost Jedi**

Ilum was cold. Cold on the order of Hoth. Cold on the order of 30 to 40 degrees below 0 by the common scale. So cold that exposed skin turned blue within minutes, and died minutes after that.

"All the same, I'd just as soon not go out there," Han said. Surprisingly, Vader had agreed to travel on the _Falcon_ to the surface. The fact that Darth Vader was standing in the _Millenium Falcon_ was not lost on anyone. The moment they dropped the ramp, the freezing air had blasted into the ship. "I got enough of ice at Hoth."

"It would be unwise for you to follow in any event, General Solo," Vader said. "In fact, of all of us, only Luke and I should go. Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy is a Jedi trained in the old order and could easily kill anyone else. And since I am here and she undoubtedly senses me, she will view us all as enemies to be killed."

Luke pulled on his heated cold gear, slipped the goggles on, and the two stepped off the ship into what seemed like a permanent blizzard. "You know the Force could warm you and make such gear unnecessary," Vader said.

"True. But why use the Force when a coat will do just as well?"

Vader merely nodded, and they continued walking. Time lost meaning in the white-out around them, but Luke knew which direction to go. He felt a surge in the Force ahead of him, similar to the cave on Dagobah, only this surge was of the light.

They found a temple façade carved out of the stone of the mountain, though the entrance had been closed off with rubble. Vader easily levitated the largest stone away, and Luke joined him, until in moments the way was clear. They walked through the door into the cave, and instantly the air felt warmer. Luke realized it was the sheer power of the Force in this place, thrumming through the air. Around him he saw light shimmering from unknown sources, and in this light thousands of crystals of blue or green glimmered.

"By the Force," Luke whispered. "This is incredible. I understand now why could couldn't bring yourself to destroy it."

"It is a Holy Place of the Force," Vader said. He raised his voice. "Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy, if you are here, I have come to talk to you in peace. I am laying down my saber."

And to Luke's amazement, he did just that. He put the lightsaber down on a ledge of stone and walked back to the center of the clearing before the entrance and sat down cross legged. Luke followed his example and did the same.

They sat, and sat. Realizing it could take some time, Luke closed his eyes and meditated, letting the magnificent Force of the place flow through him. The beauty of the place was breathtaking, and filled him with joy.

"You are not Sith," a voice said.

Luke's eyes snapped open to see a deactivated lightsaber pointed directly at his face. Behind it he saw two angry green eyes framed by a curtain of bright red hair set amid the face of a once lovely woman in her early forties, a face now twisted with bitterness, anger, loss and despair.

"I am a Jedi," he said, calling on the Force for calm. Beside him, he felt his father tense but make no move.

"You keep questionable company," she said. "Who was your master?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi for a time, and then Master Yoda."

Her arm dropped a little as amazement crossed her face. She wore a large, oversized brown robe over a tight-fitting tunic. Both looked worn with time. "Master Yoda, is he alive?"

"Master Yoda died nine months ago," Luke said. "Obi-Wan died five years prior to that."

She backed away and stared at Vader with open hatred. "What are you doing here, child-killer?"

"I have killed children," he admitted. "And many others whom at one time I called friends. I fell to the Dark Side of the Force. But I have encountered something new, and profoundly more evil and powerful than the dark side."

"The Emperor is dead," Tallisibeth said. "I felt the hole in the Force he left. This enemy you found killed him?"

"Yes," Vader said. "And they have killed billions more. I have been unable to defeat them. The empire has crumbled, and now worlds are falling to these Ori faster than we can defend them. I believe that only the Jedi can hope to stem the tide."

Tallisibeth sat down on the hard rock and bent her head down. "I have heard their screaming at night," she whispered. "So many voices screaming. So many." With Force-borne speed, she snapped back to her feet, ignited the blade and held it to Vader's face. "You killed the younglings!"

The sudden change in her behavior took Luke completely off guard. His father, however, remained calm. "Yes," he said.

"Then you must die!"

"Then you will have to kill me, too," Luke said.

She spun to face him. "I will. I will kill anyone to see justice done."

Look stood, took two steps, and sat down in front of his father. "Lunge deeply enough, and you can kill us both together. But do not call it justice. What you seek is revenge."

Tallisibeth blinked in surprise and took a step back. "Take your blade. Defend yourself!"

"I will not," Luke said. "I will not raise a sword in anger to another Jedi. If you wish to kill him, you must kill me. And you must do it while we are unarmed, for we did not come to fight you. We need you to join us, to rebuild the Jedi. That was the mission given me by Master Yoda."

"But he killed all the children!" Tallisibeth wailed, dropping her blade and covering her hands as she collapsed again. "He killed everyone I loved. If not for Master Plett, I would have died as well! He killed the only family I ever knew!"

Luke walked on his knees, ignoring the hard rock, and took her hands in his. She looked up as tears streamed down her face to the tip of her chin. She must have been very young during the Clone Wars. "My name is Luke Skywalker. I am the son of Anakin Skywalker, who once was known as Darth Vader."

Behind him, Vader raised his helmet in surprise.

"I will be your brother in the Force," Luke continued. "I will be your new family. We already have two…padawans to train. Anakin Skywalker has returned to the light side. And if you join us, there will be three Jedi knights. You won't be alone any more."

Tallisibeth stared with scintillating expressions of hate, disgust, hope and despair. Her eyes welled with tears the Jedi code had forbidden these many years. "You are the son of the man who betrayed the whole Jedi order. I saw him slaughter innocent children. He killed them all."

"If you must strike us down, we will not resist. But if you can accept it, I will give you my friendship. And the knowledge that you will never be alone again."

"I have been alone here for many years," she admitted. She hiccupped. For some reason, the idea of a Jedi knight hiccupping brought a smile to Luke's face. The smile turned to an outright laugh. The laugh was infectious, and for perhaps the first time in over twenty years, Tallisibeth smiled.

"Outside is an old Correllian freighter," Luke told her when the laughter stilled. "On this ship is a rebel leader and a princess of Alderaan, a former Correllian smuggler and now general in the Rebel Alliance, a Wookie, and a former Imperial assassin. We are the foundation of the new Jedi Order. And I want very much for you to be a part of it."

She wiped her tears with her hand and stood to clip her saber to her belt. Looking at Vader, she said: "A son. So the rumors were true. You did marry the senator."

"Yes."

"Was it worth it?"

"The answer is standing before you."

She looked Luke up and down, and then casually reached out and pulled gently at his hair. "I met your mother once. You look a lot like her, except for your eyes." She reached up and tousled his hair. "And your hair."

And with that, Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy, Knight of the Old Republic, walked out of the crystal cave and into the blizzard beyond.

0-0-0

The Seinar shipyards orbited an unremarkable yellow star within arms' reach of a massive ring of asteroids that marked the collision of two long-destroyed terrestrial planets. The asteroid field provided ample material for the leading producer of fighter craft in the galaxy.

Security in Seinar was second to none, though production was down due to the collapse of the Empire. The company's primary business now came directly from individual planetary governments seeking some type of defense against the Ori, or the pirates that were quickly becoming a nuisance in the power vacuum.

All of which meant a bad time for one Kyle Katarn, agent of the Rebel Alliance, and according to the records of the Seinar Corporation, a captain named Fresqu in the Imperial Navy.

Kyle had actually been an Imperial once, serving as a stormtrooper rather than as Navy brass. His first commanding officer had been a clone, a tough as nails clone whose only individualizing feature was the burn scars on his face. That had been before the Empire murdered his father, though. Before Kyle discovered the true face of the empire.

Now he carried the plans for the Empire's most effective fighter craft in a hidden dataclip in his boot, but had no means of getting it out. The security lockdown had stopped all but verified incoming traffic, and being the largest producers of TIE fighters in the galaxy, the company had all the security it needed to enforce that embargo.

Even so, all security measures failed when a massive Kuat Drive Yards System super star destroyer, measuring 19,000 meters from stem to stern, emerged from hyperspace in a trajectory bringing it over the main asteroid field directly toward Seinar.

The shipyards were built vertically along the orbital plane with a mass of solar panels arranged along the side nearest the sun for energy generation. The _Executor_ and the fleet of star destroyers that emerged with it were vertical to the platform, looking to any observer in the distance like huge spears about to impale the hundred square kilometers that made up the drive yards.

The security alarms in the main administration nodule where Kyle had been posing began to blare, but just as quickly eased off as the fleet identified itself.

Vader, Kyle read the security verification screen. "Things just keep getting better and better," Kyle muttered to himself. Behind him, imperial officers and company executives began running around themselves in an effort to look busy for the company brass, who swept through the room in an equally futile effort to look busy for the incoming imperial representatives. Vader made his own people as nervous as his enemies.

"All Imperial officers are to assemble immediately in Nodule 245, Main Hangar Bay. Repeat, all Imperial officers are to assemble immediately in Nodule 245, Main Hangar Bay." The intercom blared the speaker's voice out with nerve-grating volume. Kyle felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Colonel Ferkin's rodent-like face. "That means you, Captain Fresqu."

Kyle snapped to his best attention and saluted. "Yes, sir!" and started walking. The corridors were thrumming with the sound of booted feet making their way to module 245. He thought briefly about trying to sneak out, but quickly realized that anyone in an Imperial uniform not at the assembly would stand out like a rancor in a crystal shop.

Besides, with over eight thousand officers, Kyle doubted he would be noticed.

The Main Hangar Bay in Nodule 245 was large enough for anything up to a frigate to dock. It served as the initial dry-dock for interdictor cruisers during initial atmospheric assembly, before the frame was transported to a shipyard in space. Against the sheer volume of the bay, eight thousand officers standing in parade-ground attention seemed like nothing.

The shuttle landed before the assemblage, and Darth Vader stepped out with his entourage. As a mere captain, Kyle was many rows back and could not clearly see who accompanied the Dark Lord of the Sith. The main administrator of the yards bowed to Vader, and Kyle heard the mechanical basso of the Dark Lord's voice, but not the words.

He fought the ache in his legs at having to stand at attention for so long. It had been a long time since he had to do parade ground formations, and the experience reminded him of one of the many things he hated about Imperial life.

"Hello, Kyle," a familiar voice whispered in his ear.

"I'm sorry," he said, remaining at attention, "my name is Captain Fresqu."

"Kyle, its Luke. We need your help."

The other officers around them were trying hard not to look at them. Kyle slowly turned, and indeed saw Luke Skywalker standing behind him, but the Jedi was wearing the insignia of a general in the Imperial army. "That's new," Kyle noted.

"You should see Han," Luke said. "Or for that matter Leia. She looks quite fetching as an Imperial general."

"What are you doing here?" Kyle couldn't help but say. "And why are you dressed like Imperial generals?"

"We are imperial generals," Luke said, also noticing the stares. "Commissioned by Lord Vader himself." The stares came to an abrupt end and forty pairs of eyes snapped forward once more. "We need to talk. Come with me, please."

Suddenly alarms began to blare again. "What did you do now, Skywalker?" Kyle demanded.

"That wasn't me." Luke closed his eyes and paled. "The Ori. We're under attack by forces loyal to the Ori."

An observer from the asteroid field would have seen a fleet of star destroyers emerging on the opposite side of the platform from Vader's fleet, on the sunward side. Though none of the destroyers were as large as the _Executor_, there were almost a hundred of the imperial class destroyers. The moment the ships emerged from hyperspace, they began firing.

"Follow me!" Luke said.

"What is going on?" Kyle demanded.

"I'll tell you en route. Now come on!" Luke began pushing his way through the assembled officers, who wavered on the verge of breaking formation on their own. Kyle watched with suspicion and shock as his fellow rebel ran straight to Darth Vader.

"The yards are compromised," Vader said as around them explosions marked turbolaser hits. "Even if we make a defensive deployment, by the time our ships are in a position to fight back, the yards will be destroyed."

"Then we have to evacuate all the personnel and resources we can," Luke said.

"I agree. This is Katarn?"

Kyle blanched before Vader's attention. Luke nodded. "He is strong in the force," Vader said. "You have chosen well." To Kyle, he said, "Do not fear us, Katarn. We came to this place to collect you."

"Collect me for what?"

"To save the galaxy," Luke said. "Come on, Han and Leia are on Vader's ship. We also have an encoded communiqué from Mon Mothma authorizing your transfer."

"Luke, this is got to be a trick."

A brief wind whipped past them as an adjoining nodule blew up, resulting in a momentary loss of air pressure. "Maybe," Luke said, "but the alternative is to die here. The Ori do not take prisoners."

Kyle glanced back, and finally threw his hands in the air. "Ahhh Sithspit! All right, let's go!"

Vader lingered and motioned for the frightened administrator to come. "Abandon the yards," Vader ordered. "All personnel and material are to make their way to my fleet. The yards are lost."

The administrator nodded and ran to execute the orders.

The shuttle emerged from the hangar as around them thousands of TIE fighters tried to defend the station. Against capital ships, though, the fighters stood little chance. One of the destroyers did erupt in an orange ball of flame out under concentrated fire from a squadron of gunboats flanked by hundreds of TIE fighters, but the rest of the hundreds of destroyers continued their relentless pounding unaffected by the tiny fighter ships.

"Do we fight or run?" Luke said to Vader while Kyle sat nearby, staring at a beautiful red-head in a trim officer's uniform.

"So, come here often?" Kyle said.

Mara rolled her eyes. "If you're the best the rebellion could offer up, we're doomed."

Ignoring the exchange between his apprentice and Katarn, Vader nodded thoughtfully. "Those ships are elements from Grand Admiral Thrawn's fleet that was at Coruscant when it fell. If we don't destroy them, they will go after Kuat next. We can't afford to loose all our production facilities. We must destroy them."

"One hundred destroyers will take a toll," Luke said.

"We will win the day," Vader said. "But there will be losses."

The shuttle reached one of the smaller hangars of the _Executor_ and came to a stop. "Kyle," Luke said, "stay with Mara here. Mara, please get him to Leia."

Mara opened her mouth, then closed it and nodded. "Mara, huh?" Kyle said. "So what do you do around here, Mara?"

"I kill idiots," she snapped back. "Come on, idiot. The little princess is waiting."

"You wish to fly in combat?" Vader asked as he watched their newest recruit move out.

"I do. I've had some…success in commanding squadrons during combat."

"I remember," Vader said, thinking back to the first Death Star. "I have had the same success. The Force not only influences the weak minded, but with a Jedi to lead, can strengthen and organize minds. You may go. I'll have Piett load a transponder ID to your Astromech droid with a CAG ID. The pilots will follow your orders."

Luke looked up to see Han running toward him with Chewie a step behind. "We're launching Rogue and Green squadrons," he said. "We've already got the ID codes loaded. You going out, kid?"

"Yes. I'll lead the Imperial pilots, you can take the Alliance ships."

And pre-battle planning was over. Vader watched the two go and felt little surprise at the presence beside him. He looked down to see Princess Leia standing beside him. "I took the liberty of reviewing General Solo's Naval academy record," he told her.

Leia glanced up at the creature who used to be her father and said: "Yes?"

"Perhaps my judgment was premature," Vader admitted. "Insubordination aside, he won several commendations for outstanding performance and graduated valedictorian of the academy."

Although she would never have admitted it, she did not know much about Han's days in the academy. She knew he'd gone, but not much more than that. She felt a spark of pride that her love had shown such potential early on. "He is a natural leader."

"Indeed. Come with me to the bridge."

"Is that an order?" Leia flared.

"My vocoder does not project inflection well, Princess. It was an offer, so you could view the combat. I sense that you wish to be out there."

She did, but she was practical enough to know her talents were not in piloting or navigating ships. She could if pressed, but in open combat it was better to leave such roles to those trained for them. "Thank you, I will," she said at last.

On the bridge, Vader led her to a massive strategic display of the battle. The shipyards were already almost completely destroyed and debris was becoming a real hazard to the smaller ships.

Piett was already at the display, relaying orders. Vader reviewed the display. "You are using a defensive deployment," Vader said.

"Until your return, Lord Vader," Piett said. "Until I received orders, I felt the preservation of assets was of primary importance."

"Very well. We will use our numerical superiority to overwhelm and destroy the enemy ships. Deploy half the fleet through the asteroid field to flank the enemy and prevent escape. Group the destroyers together in sets of five for each enemy vessel and concentrate all fire. Increase the groupings with each enemy craft destroyed. The _Executor_ will handle the nearest ship alone."

"Very well, Lord Vader." Piett nodded and turned to issue the orders.

"Will there by any danger of friendly fire?" Leia said.

"Almost certainly," Vader said. "We've altered our transponder ID codes to identify friend or foe, but those fighters who rely primarily on line of sight may not see such codes. It is the best we can do, however."

Luke's X-wing fighter soared out of the hangar at the same time as the _Millennium Falcon_. Nearby Luke could see the X-wings of Rogue squadron and the A-wings of Green Squadron waiting for Han to lead them. It was, Luke knew, the only way Han knew how to lead.

Luke thumbed his comm. "To all Imperial craft, this is General Luke Skywalker. I am taking command of all fighter craft. I am sending command codes now. Space wing commanders, report."

The wing commanders, after verifying Luke's ID codes, quickly reported in. Unlike Alliance squads, each Imperial space wing consisted of a hundred squadrons of a hundred TIEs. A full wing could have many hundreds of squadrons. Fifty wing commanders reported in. The numbers were greater than anything Luke had ever worked with, and he briefly wondered how the Alliance was able to even challenge such numbers.

"All space wings, your orders are the complete destruction of the tainted vessels. Any ship that escapes presents a continuing threat. Form up by wing, paint your target, and concentrate all fire on that target until destroyed. I am painting target identified a as 84." Luke quickly scrolled through the different groups and immediately saw a group that had lost its commander and senior squadron pilot, as well as a third of its ships. "Sontag Group, with me. All other space groups break and pick your targets. 'Ware the Alliance ships, they're with us."

"This is Solo. Roger that. Rogue and Green squadrons are painting target identified as 94." One by one, the other air groups picked their targets, and battle was joined.

Vader listened to the exchange on the bridge. The whole ship shuddered as weapons opened fired up. Instantly, Luke's voice rang out. "All ships clear for capital barrage. Stay clear of those torpedoes!"

The _Executor_ and the other ships of the fleet had opened up all guns, and at the same time launched a barrage of torpedoes that slammed into the superstructures of the first enemy vessels.

Vader pointed to one line of small blips hovering around an enemy destroyer, doing significant damage. "That is Luke's group. Notice how all the fighters fly in perfect formation with him. They have not lost a fighter since he assumed direct command. That is the effect of a Jedi commander."

Mara emerged on the deck with Kyle a step behind. "There you are," Mara muttered. "Here's your spy." She left Kyle's side and moved to her master's. Kyle gave Leia a quick hug. "I wish I knew what the hells was going on here," he said.

"We've formed an Alliance with the remnants of the Empire to fight the Ori," Leia said. "Even Mon Mothma realized the Ori were the greater threat."

"Then what's all this about the Jedi?"

"We think the Jedi are the best bet to fight the Priors who serve the Ori. And you, Kyle, are force sensitive. So congratulations, you've been drafted into the first class of a Jedi academy."

Just then, the destroyer Luke had targeted went up in flames. "Luke is making quick work of his targeted vessels," Vader noted. Even with the vocoder, Leia thought she detected a hint of pride in the words.

"I'm still getting used to this," Kyle whispered to Leia, "but why is Darth Vader talking about Luke like they're best friends?"

"It must be a father-son thing," Leia whispered back conspiratorially. "I'm proud of him too, but then he's my brother, so what can you expect?"

Kyle straightened and stared at her, then at Vader. Finally on Mara. "I asked; and no, I'm not related," she said.

In the thick of the battle, another enemy destroyer went up in flames. "Target destroyed," Han whooped into his comm. "Give me a head count, squadron leaders!"

"All accounted for," Wedge said. Green Squadron reported the same. "Okay, folks, moving on!"

"All squadrons," a voice from the command ship interrupted their signals, "enemy ships are launching ties. You've got company."

In moments, swarms of TIEs began firing on each other. "This isn't going to work," Luke realized. "Han, you with me?"

"Yeah?"

"I need the Rogues and Green squadrons to concentrate on space superiority. Interceptor wings 14 and 23, you are to join the Alliance vessels. General Solo will command. All other wings, continue on your painted targets."

Instantly, two hundred TIE Interceptors fell in formation on either side of Wedge Antille's X-wing fighters and the smaller, more agile A-wing fighters behind the _Millennium Falcon_. "This is something I never thought I would see," Han muttered. "All right, all ships pick a wingman, break formation and fire at will. We're here to keep the enemy occupied. Let's give them a run for their money."

Watching the strategic display, even Leia was impressed at how Han piloted his old freighter through the battle as if flying a nimble fighter. "General Solo has made some modifications to that ship," Vader noted.

"And we added a heavier weapons package in the Alliance," Leia admitted.

"He's good," Kyle admitted. "But look what Skywalker is doing. How is he keeping every ship in formation like that? Not even TIE pilots are that good."

"He is a Jedi," Vader said. "He is directing the actions of his men, guiding them where they need to go. He may not even be aware he is doing it. Such is the power of the Force."

The other half of the fleet assumed its position on the other side of the enemy ships, and soon the two sides started making quick work of the enemy caught between their pincers. Piett returned to the strategic display console and bowed. "Overwhelming victory," Piett said. "We have not lost a single ship, and only three report damage of any consequence. We have lost perhaps two hundred TIEs, but we will be receiving at least a thousand from Seinar that managed to launch. Plus a significant amount of new personnel."

"The battle is not over, Admiral," Vader said. Only a dozen or so enemy destroyers remained, and those were already failing under the combined barrage of Vader's fleet.

Piett blinked. "My lord, I don't understand. Our sensors can detect no other enemy vessels."

That's when Leia felt it as well, a feeling in the force almost as if a hole had been ripped in it, sucking the Force itself away. "Priors."

Just then, five Prior ships emerged from whatever plane of existence they used to break beyond the barriers of light and time. The moment they emerged, thick beams of white light burst from the noses of the otherwise featureless ships.

Five of Vader's destroyers died. The beams punched through the ray shields of the doomed vessels with ease, burning through the superstructure to the massive hypermatter reactors that powered the vessels. "Sithspit," Kyle muttered in awe.

Piett ran back to his post. "All vessels regroup, all fighters return to your berths. All ships, open fire on the Ori vessels."

Turbolasers opened up en masse against the five Ori ships. Those ships returned fire, and instantly five more star destroyers died. "Those things are like tiny Death Stars," Kyle said.

"We just lost 100,000 men," Vader said. "Admiral, deploy shield buster torpedoes."

"At once, Lord," Piett said.

The shield buster torpedoes themselves were almost as large as the ships they were fired upon. The massive weapons streaked through the stars nestled within a rain of turbolaser bolts. It was the same type of barrage used to crack planetary shielding. Five torpedoes, launched in a staggered wave, impacted the Prior ships. On either side of the _Executor_ other star destroyers launched their torpedoes as five more star destroyers died.

The torpedoes delivered an impressive payload on the order of several thousand _giga_tons of explosive force directed by concussive wave generators into a focused area at the tip of the torpedo of not more than two square meters. Because the attack was based on kinetic concussive force as well as energy-based, the Ori ships were unable to distribute the force like they did with the superlaser of the Death Star. Even so, the ships took the torpedoes without pausing. Only when the second staggered wave hit did the center ship falter. Whatever energy field the Prior's used as shielding cracked over the center shield upon the first torpedo hit of the second wave. With the next five, the shielding collapsed. Even as the Ori ships fired five more beams, four hundred and twenty three direct hits by the main guns of the _Executor_ and its escorts slammed into the unshielded hulls of the Prior ships, reducing them all to vapor.

The last five star destroyers were struck only by abbreviated beams, which even then were strong enough to punch through the ray shields and into the superstructure.

Piett walked back to the strategic display. "Fifteen ships destroyed, two more damaged beyond repair. Three damaged but repairable."

"Just like our last encounter with the Ori," Vader said.

"Yes, Lord."

Vader turned to Kyle. "This, Katarn, is why I am working with the Rebel Alliance, and why they are working with me. In a four minute engagement, I lost almost half a million men and seventeen ships. And for all my losses, the losses to the civilians on Ori-controlled planets is a thousand-fold."

"Well," Kyle said, "you certainly got my attention."

Thanks for reading. DM


	12. Chap 11: Training

**Chapter Eleven: Training**

"This sure is an interesting bunch of folks you got here," Kyle said as he surveyed the new Jedi Academy, which he noted with no small amount of irony was located in a secondary storage bay within the command ship of the very man who wiped out the old Jedi order.

Vader was conspicuously absent from the first day of formal training of the whole group. Luke seemed to be the leader, but he was constantly looking over at the silent figure in the black cloak sitting with her legs crossed and her green eyes closed.

"So, let me get this right," Kyle continued. "You and Leia are the twin children of Darth Vader. And you, little Miss Jade, are his apprentice?"

Kyle made the mistake of standing too close to little Miss Jade, and in the blink of an eye found his feet swept out from under him and vibro-knife to his throat. "Can I please kill him?" Mara pleaded, looking up to Luke.

"We may need him, Mara," Luke said.

She turned and glared down at Kyle without moving her knife. "I've killed better men than you," she snarled before pushing herself off him. She stalked back to the square of floor she had been sitting on and collapsed back down. There were no chairs or pads in the bay, simply gray durasteel floors and walls.

Kyle picked himself up and forced a grin to cover his wounded pride. "You're so pretty, that was almost worth it."

"Do you want me to put you on the floor again?"

"Kyle, Mara, please," Luke said. "We're here to train as Jedi."

Kyle ignored him. "If you're on top again, you betchya!"

With a snarl of rage Mara charged. This time, Kyle assumed a classic rebel commando fighting stance in preparation. Both gave a startled shout as Luke levitated them both off the ground and held them three meters in the air.

"Children," Luke said. He was only few years older than Mara, and actually younger than Kyle. "Can we get started, or am I going to have to leave you up there all day?"

"You can't do that!" Mara scoffed.

"We'll find out, won't we," Luke said with a smile.

Without apparent effort, Luke turned away from the two levitating students and returned his attention to Leia. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me, Sis."

"Okay, Luke," Kyle said. "I'm sorry. You can let me down now."

"I still don't think he can keep it up forever," Mara sneered. She crossed her arms. "I don't have anything else better to do."

Five hours later, Luke watched as Tallisabeth and Leia sparred. "Tallisabeth is a much better training partner for you, Leia," Luke said. "You have similar reaches and body sizes." He activated his blade. "Tallisabeth, would you do me the honor?"

Leia stepped back as the two sparred at half speed. Leia at first watched with a furrow between her brows, and then nodded as she understood the odd impulses coming to her from Tallisabeth's direction. As Mara and Kyle watched from their unique positions three meters off the floor, the princess started perfectly imitating Tallisabeth's movements with her own lightsaber just out of reach of the two Jedi. Luke nodded to the older Jedi and moved to his sister, taking up the sparring with her. Tallisabeth continued to pantomime responses to Luke's swings, lunges and parries, and Leia continued to exactly duplicate the movements, in effect letting the knight spar through her while teaching her the basic movements.

"Do you see?" Luke said when they were done.

"That was extraordinary," Leia whispered. She turned to Tallisabeth and bowed. "Thank you for sharing that, Master Jedi."

"It is a joy to share in the Force with others," the knight said. "And please, call me Scout."

"Hey, Skywalker," Mara called down. "I've got to go to the fresher. Or do you want me to just go now?"

"You can if you want to," Luke said casually over his shoulder. Both Mara and Kyle had remained in the air this entire time. "But if you do, you're going to get wet. Being a Jedi means controlling your body. Consider this part of your training."

Tallisabeth nodded toward the two. "That's impressive, Luke. I know of Jedi masters would have been hard pressed to do it."

"Could you, if necessary?" Leia asked.

Scout smiled and both Skywalker twins could see the rueful shadow of an old regret. "No, probably not. I was never very strong in the Force, not like the Skywalkers. I was an accomplished duelist, perhaps on par with your father, Luke, and I have natural precognitive abilities during combat, but you have already far-surpassed my force abilities." Her smile turned to a grin. "I had to beg Master Plett to knight me at all."

"Master Plett?" Luke asked.

"He was a Ho'din who managed to smuggle a group of padewans and younglings off Coruscant when the purge began. He took us to Belsavis. I left after I was knighted and went to Ilum."

"Could there be others there?" Luke asked.

"Unfortunately not," Vader said as he entered. His mechanical breathing echoed in counterpoint to the crack of his boots on the floor as he walked toward them. "An Imperial Inquisitor discovered the location of Plett's sanctuary and rooted out the survivors."

Scout stared at Vader with open disgust before lowering her eyes. The former Sith directed his attention to the two floating students. "My apprentice, what did you do?"

"Why do you instantly think I did something?" Mara said. "That bearded nerfherder is the one that started it."

Vader waved a hand and the force bubbles broke, dropping both three meters to the floor. Mara yelped as she landed in an undignified heap. Kyle grunted and slowly picked himself up.

"Thank you, father," Luke said with a wide smile. "Now that everyone is paying attention," Luke said, "you all need to understand what we are doing. You are all Force sensitive, but some, like Kyle and Leia, have never had training, where as Mara's only exposure was solely to the Dark Side of the Force. Even my training is incomplete compared to that of Tallisabeth…"

"Scout," she corrected.

"…Scout, who was apprenticed as a child in the old Jedi Order and trained for a lifetime in the ways of the Force. Obviously, we are not going to be able to recreate every aspect of training in the Force. Nor do we have to. We have a specific enemy, with specific powers to be addressed, and we will address them together.

"Saber training will be the basis for much of our training," Luke continued. "Although it is part of a Jedi's training to build his or her own blade, because of the extraordinary circumstances we face, my father has agreed to build a saber for you, Kyle, so you'll have one."

Kyle took the offered lightsaber and activated it. The blade glowed purple; just beyond it he looked at Vader. The room seemed to fall deathly quiet and cold.

"It's tempting, isn't it?" Vader said. "There is a feeling inside of you that says 'Do it!' and assures you of the rush you will feel if you strike me down. Surely you would be a hero for killing Darth Vader. I have felt what you are feeling many times, Katarn. I embraced it and let it mold me. It has made me the creature I am today. What you feel is the Dark Side of the force."

Kyle snapped the blade off. "Fine, you made your point."

"I don't think I have, Katarn." Without looking away from Katarn's face, Vader said: "Tallisabeth, tell Katarn and my apprentice what you saw the Dark Side do."

Scout stiffened at the request, but then nodded. "I saw the Dark Side take a talented young Jedi and turn him into a murderer of children," she said in a hollow voice. "Children who just months before had played with him in affection and love. Above all the knights, we younglings and padewans loved Anakin Skywalker more than any other, and he seemed to love us in return. But when the Dark Side possessed him, he murdered us all with his own hand, showing no mercy. He became a thing of evil to be feared and reviled by all sentient creatures."

"I remember their names, Katarn," Vader hissed. "Choriss looked just like I did at his age. We rode swoops together and played Force tag in the Room of a Thousand Fountains in the old Temple. When the Emperor ordered me to destroy the temple, Choriss came out of hiding to ask me for help. He was only seven." He stepped closer to the stunned Katarn and with one metallic finger touched his chest in rhythm with his next words. "I CUT HIS HEAD OFF. Do you have any idea what that means? Can you possibly understand? Beware the Dark Side, Kyle Katarn. Beware of it even more than the Ori. The Ori will destroy your body and kill those you love, but the Dark Side will make you do the same thing with your own hand, and then force you to carry the memory to your grave. Remember that."

He turned and stalked away, leaving the Jedi students in shocked silence. Luke watched his father go before turning his attention back to the three students. Mara, more than the others, appeared shaken. "Let's get started," she muttered gruffly, trying to shake the mood off.

"Yes," Scout agreed, also equally shaken.


	13. Chap 12: The 2nd Battle of Naboo

**Chapter Twelve: The Second Battle of Naboo**

When the Priors came to Naboo, they came in force. At least, relatively speaking.

Ten Ori ships emerged in orbit above the shimmering blue and green planet, in two groups of five. The two star destroyers on sentry duty over the planet immediately opened fire on the enemy vessels. Two bursts of white light later, and the destroyers hung dead in space, spiraling slowly in decaying orbits back to the planet.

On the surface, not one, or even two priors arrived, but a full cadre of ten ghostly white figures appeared before Theed Palace, proclaiming the path to righteousness could only be found through Origin.

The royal Naboo guards fired on the enemy, only to be lifted off their feet and thrown hundreds of meters across the palace square, over the edge of the falls. The ten priors walked calmly through the palace until they came to the hall of the queen, brushing aside all resistance without even breaking their strides.

Her Majesty, Queen Kylantha of Naboo, was nearly thirty-three, but was as much a figurehead as an actual head of state. The power of the system lay in the hands of Moff Dor Mustafin, appointed by the emperor personally to control his former home world and ensure the steady supply of foodstuffs for the Empire.

The Moff stood and defiantly walked to the center of the floor to meet the intruders. "Take your false religion and leave," the Moff said. "The people of this world want nothing to do with you!"

"Those who do not walk the path of Origin must be destroyed," the center prior said. He held out his hand; to the horror of the queen and her council, the Moff's spine snapped again and again as his body was bent backward at an impossible angle. By the time he fell to the ground, his shocked, face stared out from between his knees as his body had bent backward into the shape of a distorted, broken circle.

The Priors continued walking until they stood before the Queen. "We have come to show you the light of Origin, so that you may worship the Ori as your gods."

"And will you kill us like you murdered him if we do not?" the queen demanded.

"Those who do not follow the path of Origin must be destroyed," the center prior intoned once again.

0-0-0

The new apprentices were training when word of Naboo came. Scout sparred with Leia and Kyle, while Luke and Mara clashed.

While Mara had never had lightsaber training before, she was expertly trained in martial arts and was superbly fit, much more so than Luke was when he began his own training. Luke found himself having to draw on the Force more than once to keep himself from being burned by the training setting of Mara's blade. Oddly, he found himself enjoying the contest.

"Wipe that grin off your face, Skywalker," Mara muttered, "before I shove my fist down it."

"Anger leads to the Dark Side," Luke cautioned.

"My Master is a Dark Lord of the Sith, I know a hell of a lot more about it than you do, Farmboy." She spun with graceful ease to strike. At the beginning of the spin, her blade was high, but by the time it reached Luke's defense it was low. But what caught his attention was not the blade, but the flash of her bare stomach between her training tunic and slacks. The muscles of her torso blended so perfectly into her hips that the great Jedi knight and hero of the Alliance got distracted.

Mara burned him hard in his hip with a triumphant cry. "Ha!"

Luke winced at the painful blow and looked down at the scorch marks on his robe. "Very nicely done," he told her.

"Oh shut up, I beat you, admit it!" She was grinning and dripping sweat.

"Indeed. One to Mara." Luke called the force, and attacked. A small part of him realized it was childish; like the way he used to show off to his friends on Tattoine. But he decided this one time may have educational benefits to a certain young Mara Jade.

Only, she didn't cooperate and lose her saber on his twisting riposte like she was supposed to. Instead she pulled her blade out of the riposte, rolled under his reach and stabbed backward. Luke side-stepped the blow and again tried to disarm her, only to have her pull her blade back in time again. The two began sparring in earnest. Nearby, Kyle muttered, "This is better than a podrace."

"She's pretty good," Scout agreed. "But then, so is Luke. And the Force is with him."

Kyle nodded, continuing to watch. After a moment, he looked back at Scout, then to Mara. Then back again.

"Katarn, do you have to do that?" Scout demanded

"Sorry," he said. "Just, since everyone seems related, and you and Mara are both pretty redheads…."

"I would have had to get pregnant at sixteen," Scout said, not bothering to hide her opinion of his speculation. "Contrary to Darth Vader's lead, most Jedi did not have children."

"Oh."

Nearby, the fight settled into a pattern. Perry, lunge, stab, jump. Mara Jade's lifetime of training seemed a match for Luke's saber technique, which was a hodgepodge of Obi-Wan's and Yoda's influences. Luke realized that in straight combat, she was easily his equal.

"You are extraordinary," he said.

Mara backed away, a strange expression on her face. Then she shook whatever thoughts she had away and charged. Luke pulled the Force within him and whipped around her with such speed her eye could not physically follow the movement. In one blur of motion, Luke deactivated his lightsaber and used the base to knock Mara's from her hand. He spun back in front of her, called her blade to him, and came to a stop.

In the space of a single heartbeat, Mara had not only lost the match, but her blade as well. She saw it in Luke's hand a cursed. He handed it back, careful not to let any satisfaction show. He knew deep down she would hate him for gloating. "You are at least as good with that weapon as I am, Mara Jade. What made the difference wasn't your fighting skill, it was the Force. In my two battles with the Priors, it has been the Force that made the difference. Master this, and with your natural talent you will be a powerful Jedi." He bowed to her and walked away, leaving Mara's chest heaving from the physical exertion. She noted with a tinge of jealousy that Luke was not even breathing hard.

The door to their training area opened and Vader stepped in. "We have received word Naboo has fallen to the Priors. The fleet is en route to engage them."

Everyone approached. "Naboo?" Kyle said. "Is that a strategic target?"

"Currently it produces almost a third of the fleet's fresh food," Vader said. "It was also the home of Luke and Leia's mother and any extended family they have that may still be living."

Vader turned to leave when Luke and Leia both said: "Family?"

Vader turned. "Your mother's family is still there. I never harmed them, and neither did the Emperor. You have at least one living aunt, and cousins. If they are still alive."

0-0-0

Naboo was one of the more out-laying systems, and so was almost a full day's travel. En route, Luke called what was to be the first meeting of the Jedi since the destruction of the original Jedi Council.

Admiral Piett was also present as the senior military officer. It was the admiral that gave the briefing. "The imperial garrison on Naboo was able to provide a comprehensive report regarding the Ori presence before we lost contact. They report a total of ten Ori ships in orbit. Both the star destroyers stationed there were destroyed almost immediately. There are ten priors on the surface, and priors were actively proselytizing the queen and court. In the process the Moff governor was killed."

"Ten Priors," Vader said. "That is the largest concentration we have seen to date. This will be difficult."

"We need to get down there to deal with the priors first," Luke said. "While on the surface the priors pose the greatest threat to the population.

"Agreed," Vader said.

"If Han were here, he'd suggest the _Falcon_," Leia said. "It's the best bet of getting to the surface without a full-scale engagement. It's large enough it can carry soldiers if need be, and it's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy." She shrugged. "Naturally, if Han is going, I'll have to go too."

"If she's going, I'm going," Jade snapped.

"It could be an interesting exercise," Luke admitted. He turned to his father and said, "Kyle and Mara both are very promising, and we have Scout. That gives us three full Jedi and three effective apprentices."

Piett cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt, m'lords, but is it wise to have all the Jedi in a single place on a planet being orbited by ten Ori vessels?"

They all paused in silence to consider the admiral's words. "No, you're right, Admiral," Luke admitted sheepishly. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Vader, you and Luke should go," Scout said. "If anything happens, I'll continue the training of the padawans."

"We'll be arriving at the planet in ten hours," Vader said. "When we emerge from hyperspace, Admiral, you are not to engage unless attacked. Contact the other fleet elements and let them know our status. Determine if any other worlds have this concentration of priors."

"Yes, M'Lord."

Vader turned and scanned the Jedi. "So few," the heard him whisper, as if caught in an old memory. At last he spoke aloud. "During the Clone Wars, many Jedi Knights served as generals in the Republic forces, and padawans often served as officers as well. For this reason I have left standing orders to all fleet personnel that Luke, Leia and Tallisabeth may make requests of, and in certain circumstances, assume command if necessary. In time, should Katarn and Jade prove themselves, they too will be given this authority. It is a grave responsibility, however, and I ask that you not use it lightly."

"So I shouldn't go ordering any imps to crash their destroyers together, right?" Kyle said.

"It would make me unhappy," Darth Vader said very carefully.

"Well, we have nine hours before we reach Naboo, so we should take what rest we can," Luke said. The others stood to leave except for Luke. As Leia started to stand, Luke took her hand and held it until the two were alone with Vader.

"You wish to discuss your family," he said when the others were gone.

"Neither of us knew we had any living extended family," Luke said.

"It has been a long time since I thought of them," Vader said. "The last time I was on Naboo was hunting Jedi hiding under the protection of Queen Apailana. I could sense the Nabarries lived, but did not approach them. After all, the Anakin Skywalker they knew died." He looked at each of his children for a long moment before he continued. "Your grandparent's names were Jobal and Ruwee Nabarrie. You have an aunt, named Sola, I believe, and at least two cousins named Pooja and Ryoo."

"Pooja?" Leia said. "Pooja Nabarrie is my cousin?"

Luke turned, stunned. "You know her?"

"Yes, of course," Vader said. "You were both in the Imperial Senate before the Emperor dissolved it."

"I remember how beautiful she was," Leia said. "I tried recruiting her to the Rebellion, but for some reason she refused."

"She feared the emperor's personal wrath," Vader said. "Palpatine was also from Naboo, and the people there were too afraid to risk open confrontation with him, especially after Queen Apailana was killed for harboring Jedi."

"Pooja is my cousin," Leia said, shaking her head. "Of all the thousands of senators, the one I became the closest to would be my unknown cousin."

"And they are alive?"

"As far as I know. You may have even more cousins. Pooja and Ryoo are older than you; I would be surprised if they have not married and had children of their own."

"Would we be able to locate them if their names of changed?"

"The Naboo custom is for the man to assume the woman's name," Vader said, "or to have no change in name at all. They are a matriarchal society, hence the election primarily of queens. They will be called Nabarrie."

"I wish we had images of all of them," Leia said. "Just to know what they look like. I've only met Pooja."

"Then ask Artoo," Vader said.

The two children stared at him. "Of course you didn't know, did you?" Vader said. "I didn't realize myself at first. R2-D2 was your mother's droid, and she loaned him to me as my astromech droid during the wars. Just as C-3PO was mine, and I gave him to Padmé. I built him as a child, in fact."

"Han would say that proves your dark tendencies early," Leia said, forcing a smile to take off the bite. "He really does not like 3-PO."

"More coincidence?" Luke asked.

"Unlikely," Vader said. "After Obi-Wan and I fought, he took Padmé and the droids with him to meet with the only senator who provided immediate shelter and sanctuary when the Jedi Purge began."

Vader was looking at Leia, and she quickly understood. "Bail Organa."

"How do you know all this?" Luke asked.

"I made many of the modifications to Artoo. I realized that unlike C-3PO his memory had not been wiped, and so I tapped into his memory circuits and watched your lives through his scanner after you all came aboard. You may not realize this, Princess, but because of my programming, a part of me has been watching over you your entire life through that droid. He doesn't even know why he has to protect you and Luke, only that he must. He will show you everything. But you should know that some of it will be painful."

"Does it show our mother?" Leia said.

"And our last…discussion," Vader said. Luke could feel the turmoil in his mind.

"After Naboo," Luke said. "We should wait until after Naboo."

"Yes," Leia agreed quickly.

0-0-0

The assembled might of the Imperial Remnant emerged from hyperspace far enough away to not immediately engage in battle. The full suite of sensors on board the _Executor_ reached out with invisible fingers to feel out the enemy.

In minutes after the fleet appeared, the _Millennium Falcon_ flashed away from the massive super star destroyer toward the distant planet. "Naboo, huh?" Han said. His two passengers rode in silence. "Nice place for a visit, I suppose, but it's not much of a trading world, is it?"

"Perhaps," Vader said. "Still, the people there are dignified, and have a fighting spirit. If any group can resist the priors, it will be they."

They landed right outside the city of Theed and made their way on foot. At first, Han wanted to accompany them, until Vader lit his saber. "My daughter loves you. She already has too much to forgive me for; the death of her lover is not something I am going to add to the list."

And that was that. The indomitable Han Solo stayed behind. And just to make sure, Vader closed the landing ramp of the Falcon and moved a very large boulder directly under it, so it would not open.

Luke nodded, since he both agreed with the need for Han to stay behind, and knew Han would not hesitate to come any way. Then Vader and Luke were on their way, running effortless across the landscape. When they slowed at the edge of the city, Luke noticed Vader's respirator rasping with the effort of providing enough oxygen.

Once inside the city, they found bodies by the thousands, laying in the streets and houses, mutilated with terrible scars and sores. "They're alive," Luke muttered. "Just barely. Is this some type of biological weapon?"

"To be certain," Vader said. "The Priors unleash plagues on any populations that resist them." He palmed his comm. "Piett, can you hear me?"

"Yes, M'lord."

"Prepare biological countermeasures for a Prior's plague and dispatch to General Solo's position. And contact General Solo within hearing of Princess Leia to let him know the city is quarantined and that if he continues his attempt to escape through the top hatch of his ship, he will be contaminated and die."

"Yes, M'lord."

"Nice touch," Luke commented laconically. "I feel something coming."

In a flash of blinding white light, ten priors appeared in a triangle formation in the center of the broad, tree-lined avenue before them. "Now we know how they get about so quickly," Luke muttered.

The prior in the tip of the triangle stepped forward. "Darth Vader, have you come to take the Path of Origin into your heart?"

"No," Vader said. "You are not welcome on this world. You will leave."

The prior studied Vader. "Still you refuse the gifts the Ori offer," the Prior said. "The Path of Origin can heal all wounds. You could be made whole again, instead of the tiny shell of a man you are. Will you not bow to the will of the Ori, and be whole once more?"

Luke could feel what a terrible seduction his father was being subjected to, and perhaps for the first time glimpsed the hell that Darth Vader had been living in for all the years since his fateful duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Whatever doubts Vader may have felt none were betrayed in his voice when he said, "Never."

The prior sneered. "All who do not follow the Path of Origin must be destroyed."

_Now_ Vader sent.

The two Jedi burst into motion faster than the naked eye could see. They did not attack the lead prior, but rather the two forming the bottom points of the triangle. Not expecting an attack, the two belatedly tried to raise their staffs, only to have red and green sabers stab easily past them. The two burst into flames as the Skywalkers moved onto their next targets. They fought in perfect tandem, moving their blades in perfect time in the opposite directions, attacking the priors from opposite sides. Two more quickly fell. The remaining six leapt from their positions and sailed across the sky as if Jedi themselves, to assume defensive positions.

"If you kill us, all these people will die," the lead Prior said.

"They would sooner be dead than bow to your false gods," Vader declared.

The two groups engaged, though this engagement was more evenly matched. Luke slashed, lunged and parried against three opponents wielding their staffs as powerful defensive weapons. He tried and failed again to move or affect the priors with the Force, but he knew there were other ways.

A section of stone balustrade on a nearby portico broke off and flew toward one of the prior's heads. One of his two comrades turned to assist him in stopping the projectile. Luke used the opportunity to feint an attack on the helper. The third lunged to stop him; Luke quickly parried the hasty lunge and swept his saber through the length of the third prior's back. He fell in a flash of flame.

Gathering the force to him, Luke pulled the flame into a ball and threw it toward the first prior while throwing his saber at the second. The tactic caught both prior's completely off guard, and the second man's head split before the flying saber.

Luke called it back, and as quickly as that was facing only a single opponent. He sensed a flash nearby and knew his father was having similar success.

"There will always be more of us," the prior said. He reached and Luke felt an invisible grip encase him. He called the Force to him and stood firm against the invisible grip. The prior looked stunned.

Luke reached out his hand and ripped out the flagstones from under the prior's feet with such speed the man had no time to respond. The flagstones then shot down like bullets, pelting the prior. He had no time to deflect Luke's Force-quick roll and lunge, and as quickly as that Luke stood to find more opponents.

He saw his father facing the leader of the priors alone; he had killed all the others, but his breathing sounded horrible. Vader eased his stance as Luke came to his side.

"Very impressive," the prior said. "But you must realize that your skills are nothing compared to the power of the Ori. Even should you kill me now, you will eventually know the Path of Origin, or be destroyed."

Luke wasn't sure who thought of it first, he or his father, but as the Prior stood predicting their doom with his staff in hand, the thought percolated between the two of them, until as one they reached out with the force and pulled.

They did not pull the prior, though. They pulled his staff.

The man blinked in shock as he felt his staff ripped from his hands into Vader's. "Blasphemy," the prior said, sputtering. "You dare lay hands on an instrument of the Ori! You will die for this!"

And as the two Jedi watched, the prior caught fire while still living, and died. The staff, however, remained.


	14. Chap 13: Family Reunion

**Chapter Thirteen: Family Reunion**

"The staff is very heavy," Vader said, "weighed down by more than just its physical being."

Luke put a hand on the staff and had to fight not to jerk his hand away. The staff burned him, but not with physical heat, of that he was sure. Rather it was the feeling of being too close to something so evil its mere presence caused pain.

"They used this to create the plague," Luke said. "I wonder if we could undo it."

"Together, perhaps," Vader said. Father and son gripped the staff and pulled the Force into it. The burning became more intense as the two pushed the Force through the staff, to the crystal. Brilliant white light flared, and then began vacillating blue and green. The light flared even brighter, and suddenly erupted in a concentric ring shooting out from their position.

Then the crystal cracked. Somehow Luke was expecting a massive explosion or release of power. Instead, the burning sensation died, and crystal atop the staff cracked and went dark.

"Lord Vader!" Piett's voice said over the comm.

"Yes, Piett?"

"M'lord, all Prior ships have drifted out of formation and appear to be dead in space. Your orders?"

"Send a single frigate to investigate, and if possible to take one of the Prior ships aboard for reverse engineering. Destroy the rest."

"You think the ships were linked to the Priors?" Luke said.

"Or to this crystal," Vader mused. "Piett didn't call until after the crystal broke."

"A chink in their armor?" Luke thought.

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, we need to check on these people." Luke turned to begin, then stepped back when Vader did not move. "Are you injured?"

Vader touched the blinking chestplate. "The Priors know to target my respirator. The last man I killed before you joined me managed to strike it with his staff. It shorted out."

"Then we need to get you back to the ship…"

"I will be fine, Luke," Vader insisted.

The two split up and began checking on the people nearest them. In Luke's case, that was a woman of middle age who had hit her head when she fell. The plague must have struck with amazing speed. As he knelt down to check her pulse, her eyes fluttered. Her face was still marked by sores from the plague, but they seemed to be glazing over to form scabs very quickly.

"What happened?" she whispered, looking up at Luke with a bewildered expression. "The Priors!" she whispered them. "My children, where are my children?"

Luke looked up and around. People were stirring up and down the boulevard. Nearby, he saw two children, ages ten and twelve perhaps, sitting up groggily. "What are their names?" he asked her.

"Shelo and Doola," the woman said.

The two children were close enough to hear their names spoken and turned at the sound of their mothers voice. "They are safe," Luke said, smiling down at her. "The Priors are gone and help is on its way."

He stood and thumbed his comm.. "Admiral Piett, this is Skywalker. Lord Vader and I have evidently been able to neutralize the plague, but the entire population was affected by it. We're going to need extensive medical assistance."

"We're sending down three medical detachments," Piett said. "We've assumed a close orbit and were able to retrieve one of the ships per Lord Vader's orders. The others have been destroyed without difficulty."

"Thank you, Admiral. Also, could you send a diagnostic droid to check Lord Vader's respirator? It appears to have been damaged in the fight."

"Of course, General," the admiral said.

Luke turned the comm off and looked around as people picked themselves up. He stepped to the center of the street, and, pulling the Force within him, spoke to the people in a voice that carried to every ear in the city.

"The Priors have been defeated, and help is on the way," he told them. "Please be patient and wait for assistance. Medical personnel are coming at this very moment."

A moment later, Vader was by his side. "It was wise to address them," he said.

Luke rested a hand on his father's shoulder. "It was good to be by your side."

"And you. We should go to the palace and alert them to what's happening."

There were no bodies or guards lining the steps to the massive, sparkling palace building. The echoing columned halls were noticeably empty as they strode together, shoulder-to-shoulder. It wasn't until they approached the throne room that they saw people stirring, marked like all the others in sores from the plague. Those people quickly scrambled away at the horrifying sight of Darth Vader walking the halls of Theed Palace.

Those who were old enough remembered the last time the Dark Lord had wandered the palace, and the slaughter that followed when the queen at that time had tried to escape with surviving Jedi.

The throne room doors were closed, and the guards on either side were too groggy to assist. With one shared glance, father and son raised their hands, and the doors _whooshed_ open.

Queen Kylatha had fallen from her throne and was collapsed into a pile of overly ornate golden shimmersilk and jewelry, while her staff was trying to pick themselves up. Vader noted the grotesque body of Moff Dor Mustafin left where it had fallen. They walked around the body, and stepped forward to assist the queen. Her own marks and scabs stood out against the porcelain skin of her otherwise striking face. "Who are you?" she asked as Luke helped her back to her thrown.

"My name is Luke Skywalker. I am a Jedi knight. Lord Vader and I came with a joint Imperial/Alliance taskforce that has been combating the Priors."

"Lord Vader?" she said, eyes wide. The queen looked as if she were hardly older than Luke himself, though he knew that was not true. Behind him, Luke could hear his father and knew the queen was staring at him in horror. "He came to help," Luke assured her calmly. "He will not harm you or any in your council."

The council, meanwhile, was pulling themselves back into their seats, staring dumbfounded at the Dark Lord and the young Jedi before them.

"They did this," the queen said, touching her face and then motioning to her advisory council, many of whom Vader was helping back to their seats. "They wanted us to try and worship their gods."

"We have destroyed them," Luke told her. "Medical help is coming. You're safe now."

The shock must have been wearing off. She looked up at him with shrewd, narrow eyes. "Jedi, you say? The Jedi are dead."

"There are a handful left," Luke said, "and in time there will be more. With Lord Vader's assistance, we are fighting the priors."

"Even so, how could you defeat the priors? How did the plague stop? No Jedi can do that."

Luke looked up at his father and laughed. "All things are possible in the Force."

0-0-0

An invasion of sorts took place as the Naboo people woke up to find storm troopers in odd armor moving through their streets with an array of biological sensors. They carried weapons, but the blasters stayed in holsters. Instead, the troopers deployed bacta patches to help heal the sores and scabbing, and other devices to aid those whose already weakened conditions were made worse by the plague.

There were causalities, the captain heading the landing part later reported. The very young and the very old were the most prone to succumbing. Nearly twenty children died, while several hundred elderly citizens died. It could have been much worse, though.

What was most important, however, was that Naboo was the first world the new Imperial-Alliance task force was able to save from the Priors.

Of course, the question soon arose as to what to do with Naboo now that it had been liberated. Queen Kylantha posed it before the bacta patches had even been removed from her face, but Luke could not answer, and his father simply stood before the queen in silence before turning and walking out of the room.

"I will find out for you," Luke promised the queen before rushing after the former Sith lord. When he caught up, he asked: "What are you going to do?"

"The Empire must remain in control of this planet," Vader said without pausing in his stride. "We need the food supplies for the fleet."

"The Empire won't survive by subjugating the very worlds it's attempting to save," Luke pointed out. Then he stopped. "The Naboo must remain free."

Vader also stopped and turned slowly. "This is not a Jedi matter, Luke. This is a matter regarding the survival of the Empire."

"Perhaps the Empire should not survive," Luke said. "At least not in its current state." The hall where the two spoke was deserted, with most palace staff having been dismissed on medical leave. "Father, we have to find a new way if this galaxy is going to survive. Do you really want to be the new emperor?"

"I already am," Vader said, but without any pleasure at the thought. He turned away from his son and hitched his thumbs in his belt. "I need to return to the _Executor_ and have my respirator repaired. When I have meditated on this, we will talk again. Remain here for now, and help where you can."

He began walking down the hall, though even Luke could see how slowly he moved. The ever-present sound of Vader's mechanical breathing sounded labored and drawn.

Watching his father walk away, Luke was suddenly struck by an idea that refused to be dismissed. He reached for his comm and signaled the _Executor_. "Admiral Piett, this is Skywalker. Is Princess Leia available to speak to me?"

"I'm here, Luke."

"Leia, would you please take a shuttle and come to the surface. I would like to talk to you about something."

"I'll be down in an hour," she said.

Luke turned and walked back to the throne room. Two Naboo guards had assumed their station, and the doors had been closed. "I'm sorry, Jedi Skywalker, the queen has asked for a private council."

Look closed his eyes and reached out, sensing the persons in the meeting. He realized it was a discussion about Naboo's future, and he could sense a great deal of hostility toward not just his father, but also he himself.

"I won't take but a moment of their time," he said, as he simultaneous Force-pushed the doors open.

The guards pulled their blasters, but Luke did not enter. Rather he stood at the threshold and stared in. "Queen Kylatha, may I speak?"

"We asked for a private council, Jedi Skywalker," the obviously perturbed queen said. Around her were a group of ten men and women ranging from Luke's age to one elderly gentleman of at least 80 years.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but I believe you will want to hear me out. Lord Vader has returned to his ship. I am here alone."

"Could we stop you if we said know?" the queen asked.

"If I were Lord Vader, not at all. But I am a Jedi, and I am also a former Commander in the Alliance to Restore the Republic. If you ask me to leave, I will. But I hope you will listen to what I say."

"You will understand our caution," Kylantha said. "The Jedi have brought very little good to Naboo."

"I saved your life, Your Majesty, and the lives of your people. Surely that qualifies as good."

"Very well, Jedi Skywalker. You may approach."

As Luke strode across the throne room, the massive doors slid shut behind him. He studied the curious eyes that watched his approach, especially a pair of warm brown eyes set in a strikingly beautiful and vaguely familiar face. The Force signature behind the wave felt warm, with a familiar flavor to it. As he stopped before the council, he hazarded a guess. "Are you Pooja Nabarrie?"

The woman blinked and leaned back in her seat. "Have we met?"

"You know my sister, Princess Leia Organa."

"Leia?" Pooja blinked and shook her head. "I know Leia Organa, but she does not have a brother."

"We were separated at birth," he said. "She is on her way down."

That caught Kylantha's attention. "Do you mean to tell me that THE Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan is traveling on the same ship as the man who destroyed her home world?"

"It is a long story, but yes," Luke said. "And that is what I would like to talk to you and your council about. I sense that you are viewing this as an opportunity to break away from the empire. And you're right. The emperor is dead and Coruscant has fallen; for all intents and purposes, there is no empire but what Lord Vader takes with him in his fleet."

"We are loyal subjects to the Emperor," Kylantha said blankly.

"And who is that, now that Palpatine is dead?" Luke asked. He turned to Pooja. "As a senator, did you ever meet with Mon Mothma?"

"Before her resignation, yes."

"Did you think her to be honorable?"

"Very much so. She was the most vocal opponent of the Emperor in the senate and one of the few never cowed by his power."

"What would you say if I told you she personally approved the alliance between the Imperial Remnant and the Rebels, and met personally with Lord Vader to approve the treaty?"

"I would say that would have been a remarkable meeting," Pooja said.

"It was proof that Palpatine's New Order cannot continue as it has. This is a time of change, without doubt. The question is what type of change. When Leia gets here, talk to her. She has Vader's ear, whether he will admit it or not. I urge you not to make any decisions yet. Talk to her, and then let the future unfold on its own."

He nodded to them all, then turned and looked at Pooja one last time. "May I ask, you mother Sola, is she well?"

"Yes. How do you know her?"

"And your grandparents, are they still living?"

"I just heard from them. They survived the plague. Please explain how you know my family."

"I'd better let Leia tell you. She'll be here shortly. It was a pleasure to meet you, Pooja Nabarrie. More so than you could possibly realize." He bowed to her formally, and then turned to leave the throne room.

Leia arrived with Han Solo in tow and a pair of stormtroopers behind her a short time later. "Piett's idea," Leia said. "Just in case there were Ori sympathizers."

Luke nodded and turned to the troopers. "What are your orders?"

"To escort General Organa to the surface and protect her against any threats."

"I see. She is a Jedi trainee and could cut you both in half before you get a shot off, are you aware of this?"

"Yes sir," the lead trooper said.

Luke smiled and shook his head. "Imperial discipline." Luke took Leia's hand, and in a flash sent her his thoughts through the Force. Her eyes widened in shock. "He's not going to like that," she said. Neither needed to clarify who "he" was.

"Probably not, but if we present it as a done deal, perhaps he can be persuaded," Luke said. "He has changed a great deal. I don't think he'll storm through the palace killing everyone."

"He would have a year ago."

"A lot can happen in a year. And Leia?"

"Yes?"

"Pooja Nabarrie is on the queen's council. She looks more like your twin than I do."

The princess took a deep, shaky breath, and then smiled. "A family reunion," she said with forced calm. She hugged Luke quickly while Han looked on in confusion, and then headed toward the throne room.

"What was that about, kid?" Han asked.

"Pooja Nabarrie was a friend of Leia's from the senate, and we just found out she is also our first cousin."

"Oh." Han shrugged. "My first cousin's a murdering criminal. I guess it means more to some than others." He followed Leia toward the throne room.

0-0-0

Three hours later, Darth Vader stood before the closed door of Queen Kylantha's throne room with a visibly shaking guard on either side and Luke Skywalker standing in front of him.

"You did what?" Vader demanded in a mechanical roar that echoed through the whole palace.

"I asked Leia to speak on behalf of the Empire," he said.

"I speak for the Empire!" Vader said, his fist clinching unconsciously close to his lightsaber.

"You are the head of the empire, but you have never spoken well for it. You've never needed to."

The two guards, shaken already, were even more so when they heard the young Jedi talk to Darth Vader in such a defiant tone.

The doors began to rattle in their frame. The two guards backed away as the Dark Lord of the Sith tried to rein in his rage. Luke remained perfectly still, with a calm expression on his face. He kept his hands by his side, and simply waited.

"You should not have done this, Luke," Vader said darkly after a very long and deadly minute.

"For the sake of us all, I had no other choice but to do this," Luke said. "The Empire died with Palpatine and Coruscant. If we are going to survive, we will need to form a new government, one that combines the military might of the Empire and the freedoms of the Alliance. And this is where we start."

"And you've invited Mon Mothma here?"

"Yes, and all the leaders of the Alliance. They're all coming here, and we are going to create a new government."

"A democracy like the Old Republic is worse than useless in a time of war," Vader warned.

"I know. Listen to Leia. Listen to what she proposes."

Luke turned and waved a hand; the doors swung open obligingly. Inside, the Naboo had set up a large circular table, at which sat only Leia, Queen Kylantha, and Senator Pooja Nabarrie. Luke started walking toward them with Vader a step behind.

Leia shifted in her chair, then lifted her chin as the temperature in the room literally dropped before the dark aura of the former Sith's Force presence. "Lord Vader," she said. "I take it my brother has told you what we are doing?"

Vader slowly stared at the three women sitting at the table, taking a full uncomfortable minute to stare down each one. Leia finally stood and walked to stand before him. The queen and senator shifted as if in fear for her life.

The princess said very quietly: "Vader…Father, this is the only way. I'm not here as a leader of the rebellion, but as your daughter, for the Empire. Mon Mothma will be here shortly, with several other planetary leaders. Please, at least look at what we are proposing."

Vader lifted a gloved hand and the holopad left the table and flew to his fingers. He lifted it and began reading through it rapidly. Luke and Leia waited in silence, hovering just millimeters from each other, hardly breathing.

"You propose a military junta for the duration of the Ori conflict with civilian oversight," Vader said, cutting through a 400 page document in moments. "To be followed by a multi branch interstellar alliance of the former rebel forces and Empire. The Old Republic did not have an executive branch."

"Not until Palpatine, Lord Vader," Pooja pointed out. She looked nervous correcting Vader, but did not stop. "History shows that during the Clone Wars, the executive powers the senate granted him actually did allow a more efficient government for a time. Leia and I both recognize the value of a strong branch of government to offset the more measured approach of a legislature. An elected king or president, or whatever term is most appropriate, would wield executive powers, but for only five years. One key provision would be a two term limit to avoid the possibility of a despot. And the term limit would be a key provision of the new government that could only be overturned by a four-fifths majority of the senate and full judicial approval."

"The battle with the Ori may take many years," Vader said. "It may never end."

"The provisional Galactic Alliance constitution allows a period of ten years, after which if the conflict has not been resolved, then executive and legislative branches are to convene anyway. We won't do it now simply because we know whichever planet a new government chooses will simply be targeted by the Ori," Pooja said.

"It empowers all the systems to help us," Leia explained. "Brute force and conscription won't get you the best resources. But if every planet has a stake in the outcome and can see a better future, we will have the support we need to galvanize the whole galaxy to our cause!"

Vader dropped the holopad. "Queen Jamilla was killed in these halls at my command," he said. Kylantha blanched. "I have been an instrument of the Emperor's will for most life. I am an expert only in killing."

He turned to Leia. "You shall serve as the Empire's plenipotentiary for this conference you have called. Do what must be done to fight the Ori. My only warning is this—any attempt to interfere in the military campaign will be unsuccessful."

"I understand," Leia said. She started to say more, but forced herself to remain silence. Vader started to leave, but then returned his attention to Pooja. "Have they told you?"

"Told me what? What is it you people know about me?"

"You remind me of Queen Amidala," Vader said. He looked at Leia. "Just as Padmé's daughter does." With that, he turned and left the room.

Pooja watched him go with her brows furrowed in confusion. "What did he mean by that? Queen Amidala did not have a daughter! She was my aunt, I would know."

"Funny story about that," Luke said.


	15. Chap 14: The Emperor Reborn

I was happy to see the reviews for the last post. Thank you. I'm glad your enjoying this. I will continue posting a chapter per day until the entire novel-length fic has been posted. Enjoy! DM

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**Chapter Fourteen: The Emperor Reborn; The Emperor Re-Killed. And a Reunion.**

A cry of rage echoed through the Force as a spirit of deepest darkness raced through space. The rage propelled it faster than even the Ori ships, deep into the dense heart of the galactic Core, to a world glowing with the Dark Side of the Force.

Attendants of the Church of the Darkside felt the rage and bowed before the Sparti cylinders as the figure within glowed under the assault of spiritual power, and then opened its eyes. Fluid drained away, and the figure reached up and pulled the breather off its face. The figure was human, with a finely built body still in the vigor and strength of youth.

The cylinder opened, and the figure stepped out to be instantly met by sycophants. "Master," they cried. "We had feared you were lost."

"Death is nothing compared to the Dark Side of the Force," the newly reborn Emperor Palpatine declared. "Has my secret empire grown in my absence?"

"Yes, master," the sycophants all said. "Your fleet is ready. Your power shall be unmatched."

"And the Eclipse?"

"Completed, Master," the servants said.

All was as it should be.

Suddenly, he felt a twisting in the Force, and his exultation turned to dread. "The Ori cannot be here!"

But they were. A fleet of fifty Prior ships emerged from hyperspace, accompanied by a fleet of larger ships that were closer in power and size to star destroyers. Although taken off guard, the forces of Palpatine's secret empire at Byss responded instantly with overwhelming firepower.

Ori attack ships died as the Eclipse brought it's superlaser online. But for every Ori ship that died, ten imperial capital ships died. And soon that number became twenty. And then thirty. As the Ori ships dwindled in number, the imperial fleet dwindled fifty times faster. Until, in the end, a single Prior ship remained in orbit filled with the debris of the secret empire.

On the planet below, Palpatine had sensed the whole battle with a feeling of overwhelming rage and helplessness. "Nooooo!" he screamed as the Prior ship fired. And just as happened with the Death Star, the weapon hit the exact spot on which the Emperor stood, and continued burrowing into the planet itself, until it reached the core of the dark world, destabilizing it. The Ori destroyer turned and fled as the planet's crust began cracking and exposing the explosive elements below. Hours later, Byss exploded and the Secret Empire ceased to exist.

0-0-0

Far away from the Deep Core, on a planet near the Outer Rim territories, Luke Skywalker stood staring at the gates of a family home. Beside him stood Leia Organa. She had recently decided to begin calling herself Organa Skywalker. "Not because of our father," she explained to Han and Luke, "but because of my brother."

Now, though, she wished she were an Organa alone, with no knowledge of her biological family. If not for that knowledge, she would not be standing beside her long-lost brother, clenching his hand tightly in hers, while staring at the Aurebesh script announcing that they stood at the gates of the Nabarrie family estate, and that those with love in their hearts were welcome.

"Probably a good thing our father isn't here," Luke said, looking at the message.

Leia tried her best to force a smile. Finally, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "This is ridiculous. I've faced down homicidal moffs and Dark Lords of the Sith. Why am I acting like a scared little girl?"

"Because these are your grandparents."

She turned and stared at him, and then quickly wrapped Luke in a hug. "You're a good man, Luke. I'm just sorry we didn't meet until we were almost twenty."

"I got to you as soon as I could," Luke said with a smile. He swallowed loudly before looking back at the gates. "Let's go meet the family."

They opened and passed through the antique wooden gate and entered a garden sprinkled with light and shadow from the thick growth of trees. The shadows danced across a soothing green carpet grass, with pockets of sun lighting the path of pavestones that led from the gate to the steps of the home. The home itself, as with most Naboo architecture, had a classical look that belied its actual age. Arches and terraces were covered with flowering vines that made it difficult to tell what was interior and what was exterior. It projected a sense of calm and serenity that both brother and sister let themselves be drawn into.

Still holding hands, they crossed the lawn and stopped before the front door, which was open save for a semi-permeable insect shield. Rather than cross the shield, Luke raised his hand to the announcer, which sent a reverberating gong through the house.

A moment later an aging man who bore the signs of once being thickset, but who was now thin, stepped to the door. He looked up at the two strangers and studied their faces. "Yes, can I help you?"

"We're very sorry to bother you," Leia said in her best politician's voice. It sounded simultaneously determined, conciliatory, friendly and immovable. Luke could not even begin to guess how she did it. "We met with your granddaughter Pooja and she told us where we could find you. We were hoping to have a few moments to talk with you."

Behind the man came a woman with beautiful silver hair caught up in the twin buns on either side of her head that was the rage of fashion across the empire just five years before. Now, to Leia's eyes, they seemed dated. And yet, with this woman's elegant neckline and beautiful oval face, the hairstyle appeared perfectly suited to her. "Ruwee, what is it?"

Leia's voice caught in a lump in her throat. Luke stared down at his sister, feeling her anguish and conflict, and then back to Jobal and Ruwee Naberrie. "My name is Luke Skywalker," he told them. "I am a Jedi Knight. This is my sister, Leia Organa Skywalker, also a Jedi. We are the children of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Naberrie. We are your grandchildren."

Ruwee began sputtering. Jobal, however, studied each of their faces intently. She saw the open, honest love in Luke's, and the deep-set pain and confusion in Leia. Then, studying Leia, she saw something else. With the same quiet dignity that raised a queen, Jobal stepped past the insect shield until she stood a breath away from Leia. She very gently placed her fingers under the princess's chin and studied her face and her eyes.

Only then did moisture crack the dam of her composure as tears came to her eyes. "I see her in your face," she whispered. "I see my little girl in your eyes." With a sob, she wrapped Luke and Leia in a hug and held them both for the longest time. Finally, she stepped back and took their hands. "Come in. Come in and be welcome. This is your home as much as it is ours."

"Jobal," Ruwee began, "we can't just…"

"Look at her face and tell me you don't see Padmé!" Jobal chided. "Look at this boy and tell me you don't see that handsome young knight she brought home from Coruscant, before the wars began. Tell me that, and I'll tell you you're a blind old fool."

Ruwee blinked. "I'm old. And I'm probably a fool. But I'm not blind." He turned his attention to Luke. "That handsome knight she brought home ended up bringing about her death, didn't he?"

"Yes," Luke said without any hesitation. "They were both manipulated and destroyed. But not before she had us."

"And what heroes you've become," Jobal said. "I've seen your names on the holonet. The Jedi who helped save our world. The second Skywalker to do so, if I remember. And the heroine of the rebellion. How proud your mother would have been! But enough of this! Come inside, both of you."

It was one afternoon and evening among many, a few hours stolen from a schedule of precious moments. But those hours spent among the Naberrie family were unlike anything either of them had known before. Pooja came by with her husband and three children, who were enthralled to meet an honest-to-goodness Jedi knight.

They also met their aunt Sola, Pooja's mother, and their other cousin Ryoo. Like Pooja, Ryoo had married and also had two children of her own, though they were older than Pooja's. Between grandparents, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and assorted spouses, there were fifteen people gathered around a single table, bonded by love and blood, sharing a meal together.

They all asked about the stories, and Luke and Leia between them answered as best they could. Everyone realized that even with their relationship, Luke's and Leia's experiences set them apart from the affluent and yet still planet-bound family of the Naberries. However, there was no judgment, nor pity. Rather, what the two orphans sensed was a complete, open acceptance that was as beautiful as anything they had ever experienced before.

When they left that evening after enough food to paralyze a Wookie and enough laughter and tears to last a lifetime, they did so not as orphans, but as proud and loving members of the Nabarrie family. They finally knew their race and their home. They were Naboo.

As they climbed into the loaned speeder to head back to Theed, Luke paused in the seat and stared back at the house. "What is it?" Leia asked.

"Just wondering what could have been," he told her. "I read that the Naboo are matriarchal, and I remember hearing our father say one time that he had been ready to lay down his lightsaber to be with our mother, but that she wouldn't let him. I wonder what would have happened if he had laid it down, and returned here with her, to live as ordinary people."

"Then someone else would have become Palpatine's apprentice, and our father would have been hunted down and killed, rather than being the one who hunted." She climbed in a shut her door. "Come on, Luke. We've got a lot of work to do in the next couple of days. We will see them again."

"A premonition, sister Jedi?"

"A promise. Now let's go."


	16. Chap 15: The Galactic Alliance

**Chapter Fifteen: The Galactic Alliance**

Qu Rahn, the last living Jedi Master, ducked under a powerful swing by the reptilian creature named Maw and rolled into a lunge against the second of his opponents, an insane Twi'lek named Boc. The Twi'lek parried with one saber and instantly lunged with another.

Only the Force prevented Rahn's head from being impaled. He jerked to the side and Force-pulled Boc over his shoulder, directly into Maw. He heard an angry hiss and spun around in time to see the stunned Boc sliding off Maw's lightsaber to fall dead to the walkway. The reptile struck again angrily, losing all attempts at control in its rage.

Rahn ducked the clumsy blow and sliced up and through the torso of his attacker.

"Very nice," a leering voice called from behind. Rahn spun about as Maw fell and saw on the narrow walkway a party of three humans and an odd pair of aliens walking toward him. The leader of the group of was a man without eyes, clapping gloved hands.

"Jerec," Rahn said. He quickly assessed his chances. Behind him was the top of the docking tower, ahead of him the long docking arm reaching toward Jerec's frigate; below a drop of over a thousand meters into a river valley that not even a Jedi master could hope to survive.

"There is nowhere else to go, my old friend," Jerec said. "I have already drunk from the Valley of the Jedi. Its power flows through me. Would you like to see?"

Without waiting for the answer, Jerec struck out a single hand and unleashed a torrent of blue lightening. Rahn could not stop the scream that came to his lips as the lightning struck and lifted him from his feet, only to slam down on the edge of the docking arm a few meters back.

"I am the Dark Side," Jerec said. "The trapped souls of all those Jedi and Sith burns in me. Nothing in this galaxy can stop me."

Rahn gathered the Force to him in an effort to center himself. Around him, the stark, mountainous terrain of Ruusan threw shadows across his eyes in the twilight of the day. "You will never be anything more than a traitor to the Jedi," Rahn said.

"Weak words from a weak man," Jerec snarled. He unleashed the full fury of his power, and Rahn screamed his pain as the force of the blow lifted him from the walkway and threw him into the pit below. His body continued to spark as it fell.

The band of dark Jedi waited a moment until a flash of light appeared before them, replaced a moment later by a man in a white robe, with white eyes and a staff topped with a white crystal. "Most impressive," the Prior said. "The Ori have watched you for some time. Accept the path of Origin, Inquisitor Jerec, and the Galaxy shall bow down before you."

"As a Prior?" Jerec said, scoffing. His countenance alone was proof that this was not the first such meeting. "I think not."

"Not as a Prior," the Prior said. "You and yours would serve as us you are, and be the leaders of our armies in this galaxy. There are Jedi living still, and these blasphemers have sought to prevent the Path of Origin from being accepted in this galaxy. It is the will of the Ori that these Jedi be killed. Gather to you those like yourself, and destroy these Jedi. Do this, and the Ori will grant you more than just power on this plane, Jerec. You shall ascend, and be with them a god."

"I already am a god," Jerec said disdainfully, and unleashed the Dark Side of the Force against the Prior. Unlike Rahn, the Prior intercepted the lightning with his staff and merely smiled.

"You are a petty living creature," the Prior said. He held out his hand and suddenly Jerec found himself off his feet, hovering over the precipice that, moments before, had swallowed his enemy. "The power of the Ori cannot be denied. I am but a mere shadow of their might, and yet I could kill you as we speak. Follow the Path, Jerec, and you will know such power as no creature in this galaxy has ever known."

On the walkway, Sariss, Yun, Gorc and Pic all had their sabers drawn, ready to attack the lone Prior. Slowly, Jerec floated back over the docking arm and was released. "You say the Jedi have regrouped?" he said as he regained his composure.

"What remains of them," the Prior said. "They should be no match for powerful dark Jedi such as yourself. Kill these Jedi, and all that you could ask for will be yours."

With that, the Prior disappeared in the same flash of white light that marked his arrival.

"Master?" Sariss asked. She deactivated her sword, and the rest followed.

Jerec merely stood staring at the space the Prior had occupied. He turned to his followers. "The Priors destroyed the Emperor," he said.

"We know, Master," Sariss said, as beautiful and deadly as any creature to live.

"What you do not know was that the Emperor's spirit survived the initial attack, and was cloned on Byss in the Deep Core. I have recently learned that the Priors attacked Byss. They destroyed the super dreadnaught the Emperor had been constructing and wiped out a fleet of thousands of destroyers before destroying the world itself. The Emperor's spirit was destroyed, as was the majority of the empire's deep core." He shook his head and turned to look out over the harsh world that housed the Valley of the Jedi. "I will not succumb to the Rebels. These Ori have demonstrated overwhelming power. 'Tis better to rule with the Gods than die with the heretics, wouldn't you say?"

Sariss nodded, though her thoughts betrayed her doubt. Jerec did not care. She would follow him, as always. And right now, she was going to follow him in gathering the remnants of the Emperor's Elite and destroying the fledgling Jedi.

0-0-0

The free galaxy watched on the Holonet as its greatest leaders gathered on Naboo for the creation of the Galactic Alliance. The sight of _the_ Darth Vader sitting at the same table with Mon Mothma was itself such a shock to so many that viewership on the Holonet news programs increased by several orders of magnitude. The only sentients not watching were those souls caught on Ori-controlled worlds, of which there were an ever-increasing number.

What the news programs failed to report on was the apoplectic fury of the combined Moffs and admiralty upon finding that Darth Vader had essentially not only appointed himself as the head of the empire, but then at the same time surrendered the very existence of the empire into the larger Galactic Alliance.

The meeting of the Moffs took place only a day before the first meetings of the Alliance council aboard the _Executor_. Every surviving Moff was there, as were the three Grand Admirals who had survived the fall of Coruscant. The imperial officers had initially approved fighting the Ori, but had evidently not been aware of Vader's treaty with the Rebellion, or the fact that the Jedi were living and training on the imperial flagship.

Vader sat at the head of the table, with Piett to his left, and Princess Leia Organa, newly appointed Minister of State for the Empire, on his right. And ten seats down, Moff Disra was ranting at them with undisguised contempt. "…is nothing less than a betrayal of the New Order and the Empire itself!" Disra declared. "How can we sit here and allow this travesty to continue?"

Before Vader could respond, Leia stood and stared at the Moff. And continued to stare. The other moffs fell silent before the piercing gaze of the princess and former rebel. Resplendent in black and purple robes of an Imperial minister of state, the diminutive princess projected an aura of undisguised power not so dissimilar to that of the dark lord sitting by her side.

The moffs could not help but notice the similarity in the feel of the two.

When she spoke, her voice was augmented by the Force and strengthened by her own steely will, "My Lord, please remember who you are talking to. Darth Vader is the last Dark Lord of the Sith and personal apprentice to the Emperor himself. You are alive by his good graces, and just barely at that. Understand that this is not a discussion. The charter for the Alliance _will_ be approved. You _will_ endorse it, and do so with a smile. Or you _will not_ leave this room. I hope I make myself clear."

Beside her, Vader lifted a hand. Every pair of eyes at the table watched in apprehension as a durasteel statute of a dreadnaught in the center of the conference table crumpled. Leia sat down, as did Disra, now ashen-faced. "You were saying?" Vader said to the most vocal of the moffs. His mechanical basso rolled hollowly through the room.

After the meeting, Vader found Leia in her newly furnished office, pouring over paperwork. She looked up a moment, hesitated on the border of a smile, then returned to her paperwork. "That was a dangerous bluff, Princess."

"There is no point in ignoring your past," she said, "and when dealing with Imperials there is every advantage in playing on it. You were the Emperor's apprentice. You were his chosen successor. And there was a time, I'm sure, when it would not have been a bluff."

"Your faith in me is…"

"Stop, please," Leia said. She dropped the holopad she had been studying and rubbed her face a moment with both hands. To the surface of her desk more than to him, she said: "After Luke and I met with Pooja and the rest of our…family, the two of us watched what happened between you and my mother on Mustafar."

"Yes."

"R2 even recorded our births. Did you watch that part?"

Vader said nothing.

She looked up at him and her eyes, always so fierce, watered under the unrelenting light of her room. "I wish I could see your face right now. I want to know if it means anything to you."

Vader did not move, nor did he say a word. Leia looked down at her desk and began arranging flimsiplasts and holopads. "Her last words were about you. I think she loved you even after what you did. And Luke insists on it. But damn it all, you have to realize that you…_tortured_…me! You stood by as a helpless planet of hundreds of millions of people was destroyed for no reason other than evil spite. We are never going to be a loving family, Lord Vader. You have to know that."

"I do." The voice sounded the same as always, mechanical and cold.

She sat back down and stared up at the dark figure with a sigh. "Are you going to sign the Alliance treaty?"

"I will sign, but with one revision to the documents drafted so far."

Leia leaned forward pensively. "A revision? But we've already gone through everything. What type of revision could you want now?"

"I want you to head the Alliance Provisional Government, not Mothma," Vader said.

"You want me to be the head of the civilian government of the Galactic Alliance?" Leia whispered.

"Yes. As both a Jedi and nobility, you understand the needs of the Jedi and the intricacies of politics. And though you will never be an imperial, you have carried your role as minister of state with skill and honor. Your adopted father would be proud of you."

Before she could say anything else, he turned and left.

Vader strode through the walls of the _Executor_ blindly, not even aware of his destination until he found himself sitting alone in his hyperbaric chamber, gasping in the purified air. If his tear ducts had not been seared by the fires of Mustafar, he would have wept.

He had not watched their births, or Padmé's last moments. He never had the strength. And so he had not known her last words were of him. Even after all he had done to her… "My Padmé," his whispered. "I am so very sorry."

0-0-0

The next day, in the presence of Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, Queen Kylantha of Naboo, the assembled Moffs and Grand Admirals of the Imperial Remnant, in addition to over fifty former members of the disbanded Imperial Senate, acting as sector representatives, with hundreds of holocams hovering around, Darth Vader signed the away the First Galactic Empire and created the first Galactic Alliance.

He and the rest of the dignitaries stood after the ceremonial signing as everyone in the hall applauded. Under the onslaught of the applause, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, de facto Emperor and former Jedi Knight, swayed dangerously to a fro, and then before the thousands present and trillions of holonet viewers, collapsed to the floor in a silent heap.

0-0-0

"He's dying," Scout said as she placed her hand on the blinking light of his respirator. She, Luke and Leia sat in sterile scrubs within the Sith Lord's hyperbaric chamber, making for cramped quarters. For the very first time, the Skywalker twins stared at their father without his helmet, and even Leia was shocked by what she saw.

The pale white of Vader's skin was striking enough, but the fearsome scars on the back of his skull were almost unbearable to look at. He eyes were closed, but even so they could see a faint sheen of orange coming from under his eyelids. "Residual dark side energy," Scout noted. "I saw it in his eyes the first time he came to the temple as Darth Vader."

"Can he hear us?" Luke asked.

"I don't think so," Scout said. "Or if so, only as if in a dream. I've told you I am not strong in the Force, and I am definitely no healer. But even as weak as I am I can feel the…pain he is in. Luke, I don't think the Emperor even gave his skin time to heal from the burns before they put the armor on him. His skin has actually fused with the weave of his armor." She removed her hand and looked down at his face, her finger hovering by his cheek. "He was such a handsome man. All the padewans had crushes on him. I swear it actually embarrassed Obi-Wan and Master Yoda."

On the other side of his father, Luke took a gauntlet in his hands. It felt cold and heavy, like the machine it was. "Is there anything we can do for him?"

"Not here," Scout said. "He would need the finest medical care in the galaxy, the kind only the richest can afford."

"What about Mon Calamari?" Leia asked. "They have some of the finest healers there are. Their trauma centers handle patients from the entire quadrant. I even know of some Imperials who have sought treatment there."

"Possibly. I've never been there, and I've been a little out of touch over the past twenty years, so you'd know more about it than I would. Whatever you do, though, you need to hurry if you want him to live."

Luke heard something there that made him pause. "You're not sure that is a good thing?"

Scout bowed her head, but never took her eyes off the figure below her. "He did so much evil, Luke. I know it's hard for you to imagine what it was like. It wasn't just to your mother. What he did in the Temple is beyond forgiveness. I'm not a Jedi master and will never be. I'm not sure I'm capable of that type of forgiveness. It almost would be better if he dies now, having at least accomplished something good in his time."

Luke turned to Leia, and felt the blood drain from his cheeks as he realized his sister did not disagree. "Whatever he did in his past," Luke said with forced calm, "we need him for the future. He has the most experience fighting the Priors, and frankly I would not want to take on any future Priors without him near. We must make every effort to save him, if for that reason alone."

"Of course," Leia said, nodding.

"As you wish," Scout conceded.

They left the hyperbaric chamber and began looking for Piett. "Leia," Luke said, "you should probably talk to Ackbar before we head to Mon Calamari. The Mon Cals probably won't be too happy to see us."

"Good idea."

They found Piett on the command deck of the bridge, hands clasped behind his back as he stared into the stars. Luke strode across the deck and joined him.

"I take it you now know of Lord Vader's condition?" Piett said.

"You knew?"

"The Emperor made it known to me that Lord Vader was ill almost a year ago, when we were planning the trap at Endor for you and the Rebels. I had standing orders to relieve him if he showed any sign of weakness. I think the order was aimed primarily at any influence you might have on him, but it was known among certain circles that Lord Vader had a limited number of years."

"While he is incapacitated, will you accept my orders?" Luke asked.

Piett looked the young Jedi over. "I'm older than your father."

"I believe you are," Luke said, grinning.

Piett snorted. "You would never make a good imperial officer, Lord Skywalker. You're much too likeable. I'll follow your orders, pending any conflicting instructions from Lord Vader. According to the new Alliance charter, only the Alliance may appoint a supreme commander to succeed Lord Vader. In the absence of such an appointment, Lord Vader while living remains supreme commander, and per his orders, you remain his second in command."

"Thank you, Piett," Luke said.

"Sir."

"Take the fleet to Mon Calamari. Leave one star destroyer in orbit around Naboo for peacekeeping duties only, with orders to answer to the Naboo government."

"Understood, m'lord," Piett said. "We'll break orbit and be ready to jump within the hour."

0-0-0

Deep in the bowels of the super star destroyer, Darth Vader's eyes flickered open. He saw Tallisibeth Enwan… "How did you ever learn to write you name?" he whispered weakly.

Scout blinked and leaned over to make sure she heard him correctly, and then smiled in spite of herself. "It took a long time. I was fencing with lightsabers before I could spell it all out. Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy."

"Tallisibeth is a beautiful name. Much better than Scout." His eyes closed and his breathing came in shallow gasps. "I am dying."

"Yes."

He nodded. "Perhaps it is better this way. The pain seems to have gotten worse over the past few years. Since I found out I had…" He tried to swallow but couldn't. Sensing his need, Scout pulled a cup from a dispenser in the chamber and held it with a straw to his lips. He sipped with obvious relief.

"You take all your meals here?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Does it hurt much?"

His dried and cracked lips parted in a bitter smile. "Yes. On that count you should be pleased. It hurts terribly. Every movement feels as if my skin is pealing away. And it never gets better, not since the day my skin was first burned away, with my arm and legs."

"You deserved it," she said, but without anger.

He opened his eyes, and surprisingly, all hint of the orange was gone. "I deserved it and far more," he admitted. "Before the Ori came, before I discovered Luke, I hadn't allowed myself to think about the things I've done. But seeing you, it started coming back. I remember you as a little girl in the Temple, and it suddenly brought back the other padewans and younglings like Choriss, Luminali, all of the people I cut down. I see their faces every time I close my eyes, and in the back of my head I can hear Palpatine laughing at how easily he misled me."

"The Sith do not know of guilt, or regret," Scout said.

"Nor did I, until I found I had a son."

"You really have come back to us, haven't you, Ani?"

"There are times when I do not want to," Vader said. "I see their faces, and hear their screams. I hadn't thought of Choriss in so long; and now all I can see is the expression in his eyes when I lit my saber. I loved them, and I killed them all. Just like I killed Padmé."

He closed his eyes. "Poor little Ani," she whispered. "How your dark lord hurt you." She put a hand to his cheek.

His eyes snapped open as he stared at her. "I don't deserve your sympathy."

"Sympathy is never deserved, Ani," she said. "It is simply given." Though he said nothing, she remained by his side, monitoring him through the Force, as if the diagnostic equipment built into the chamber was not trustworthy.

0-0-0

The Mon Calamari cruiser _Home One _emerged from hyperspace above the sparkling world of Mon Calamari to a hero's welcome. The Mon Cals greeted Admiral Ackbar via holonet transmission on the bridge of his ship enthusiastically as a beloved lost son. Moments later, the combined force of the old Empire emerged from hyperspace behind him, and the greetings became muted.

It took almost an hour before Ackbar was able to convince his people that they were not under attack. Eventually, permission was granted for a shuttle to land.

A female Mon Calamari and two guards stood on the landing platform as the boarding ramp lowered. Leia and Luke walked out together and bowed before introducing themselves.

"It is a great honor to meet you. My name is Clighal, and I represent the Mon Cal council. We watched the events on Naboo with great interest."

"Then you know of Lord Vader's collapse," Luke said.

"Yes. You will forgive us if we Mon Cals are not upset by such a turn of events."

Leia smiled. "Believe me, I understand. However, you should know that we are here specifically to seek medical treatment for Darth Vader."

"Why, may I ask?"

"He is a potent warrior against the Ori," Luke said. "It is the fight against the Ori that has spurred all the changes you see across the galaxy now. We need him alive to carry on that fight."

"This is inconceivable," the Mon Cal said. "But Admiral Ackbar has requested we provide any assistance requested. If it were anyone but him making the request…"

"Ackbar was present went Mon Mothma and Vader signed the first treaty," Leia said. "He of all sentients knows what Lord Vader contributes to the fight. Thank you for your help."

As if on cue, Tallisibeth walked down the ramp with a repulsor bed behind her. The bed was encased in a transparisteel bubble that shrouded the occupant from view. "We thought it better to limit the number of sightings," the Jedi said.

Clighal said nothing, and soon they arrived at the trauma unit. Taking one look at the strange party entering the room the lead physician walked up and said: "Clighal, what is happening here?"

Clighal bowed. "Alongal, you have a patient."

Alongal looked at the bed. "I don't understand."

"According to the information we found you are the foremost leader in organ and limb cloning and replacement," Tallisibeth said. "On this bed is a patient who has needed both for over twenty years."

The bubble slid back into the sides of the table and revealed the still form of Darth Vader without his cape. His mechanized breathing was so shallow it was barely audible.

Alongal walked to the side of Darth Vader and stared with massive blinking eyes. "Unbelievable," she whispered. She waved a webbed hand at one of her assistances, who quickly ran to the side of the table with several diagnostic devices. One plugged directly into the respirator on his chest, the other Alongal held over the Dark Lord's body. "He should be dead already," she said. "He should have died twenty years ago. The abuse he has been subjected to is abhorrent."

"We saw the scars from his burns," Leia said.

"And regular electrocutions, one as recently as 18 months ago?" Alongal said. "There is massive calcification of his remaining skeletal structure. This only happens in humans when exposed to high energy fields."

"Punishment," a wispy basso voice said. "For my failures."

Alongal stared in horror at Vader, and then shook her head. "Lord Vader, if you can hear me, we may be able to help you, but it will be an intensive and invasive procedure. We are going to have to remove your suit, which means removing your skin. Since your lungs are dead, you will have to be kept alive through the Force knows what and oxygen therapy. And from what I learned in my youth serving with a Jedi healer, you Jedi do not always react well to anesthetics or transplants. It will be a hundred times more painful than the original injuries themselves, Lord Vader, and will take at the very least a week of constant pain. You must realize this."

"I do not do this for myself," the voice answered weakly. "Do what must be done."

"Then everyone else get out," Alongal said. She waived an articulated fin-hand toward a row of windows lining the top third of the room. "You can watch from up there, but you can't be in here."

Luke took Leia's hand, and the two left the room. The physician called in her assistants and patted a bed. "Lay here. You, Jedi, you stay."

Scout nodded, but then stopped Clighal. "She needs to stay as well."

Alongal blinked. "And why is that?"

"She is strong in the Force, and I sense a talent in healing. I'll need her help to sustain him."

"All right," Alongal said. "Then let's get started."


	17. Chap 16: The Death of Darth Vader

I was happy to see many more posts for the past tow chapters. I appreciate your feedback and I'm happy to see you're liking the story. Here's another one for you, and no its not late, since I never promised what time of weekday I would post!

Enjoy.

DM

**

* * *

****Chapter Sixteen: The Death of Darth Vader**

From the observation room, the Skywalker twins watched as Darth Vader was slowly divested of his garb. Already, he looked odd to the two. "I've never seen him without his cape," Luke admitted.

"The theatrics of power," Leia said. "Palpatine must have designed the suit for him, if he was as injured as they say. Only a mind such as the emperor's could have created something so evil in appearance."

"Don't hate him, Leia," Luke urged. "He is your father."

"Bail Organa was my father," she said. "You were right beside me when R2 showed us what happened on Mustafar."

"And I was beside you when our mother's last words were that there was still good in him."

Leia pursed her lips, but could not draw her eyes away from the mystery of her father. With the name Anakin Skywalker had come a history she could never have imagined. Although the emperor's propaganda machine tried its best to wipe out any trace of the Jedi, there were more than enough reports left over from the Clone Wars to know the name. Her father had been a hero to nearly every sentient being in the galaxy. She had found reports among the Confederate Systems against which the Clone Wars were fought lauding the Jedi, even as those same reports lambasted everything he fought for.

And he had married a woman who, even by her adopted father's own account, had been a person of the highest level of integrity, honesty and virtue. She had loved him even to her dying breath.

"He is not my real father," she whispered again, but mostly to herself.

The doctors below removed Darth Vader's mask, and once again Leia gasped, her anger burned away momentarily by the agony evident in Darth…Anakin's face. She finally turned away and saw moisture her brother's eyes. Her own were dry, and yet still they burned, as if aching to shed tears as well.

Then the medic techs removed the armor and chest plates, leaving only the girdle. One by one, they removed his limbs. "His arms and legs?" Leia whispered. "You mean he had no limbs?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi was a master with the saber before spending two decades in the desert growing old before his time," Luke whispered, unable to take his eyes off the shattered remnants of his father's body.

Finally, they removed the girdle. Leia turned and leaned her head against Luke's shoulders. "By the Force," she whispered. "How could he live like that?"

"The Emperor would not let him die," Luke said.

The procedure took days and days. Though he must have been in terrible agony, Vader never made a sound. Luke and Leia took shifts watching in the observation loft, joined often by Han, who usually said nor did anything, other than to wrap his arms around Leia as if supporting her.

It was late into the fourth evening when Mara Jade came for the first time. Luke stood alone in the observation room watching as one of Alongal's chief assistants performed the micro-surgical attachment of an arm. The cloned limb hung limply on a cart as the physician manned the surgical droid in the micro-surgery establishing the millions of nerve connections. In order for them to do the procedure, five centimeters of Anakin's remaining stump and had been severed to expose the raw nerves and muscle. Anakin had been awake through the procedure, his head turned away to face the only other person who had remained with him the entire time.

Even from the observation lounge, Luke could see that Tallisabeth's face was drawn with exhaustion, and yet she sat with a determined furrow to her brows as she kept one hand on the equally exhausted Clighal by her side, and one hand on Anakin's chest. From the feeling in the Force Luke knew she was helping his father control the pain while at the same time drawing on the Mon Cal's raw Force energy to aid in the transplant. The older Jedi might not have been powerful in the Force, but she was knowledgeable enough to use a technique Luke had never even imagined to overcome the legendary Jedi trait of rejecting transplanted or cloned limbs.

He looked up in surprise as Mara entered, dressed in a uniform very similar in cut to Luke's. "He is regaining an arm," Luke said by way of update.

She moved to stand by his side and looked down into the theatre. "His lungs?"

"They did a multi-organ transplant yesterday morning," Luke said. "At least it began in the morning. The surgery lasted for nine hours. Every major internal organ was replaced. But with Scout's aid in subduing the Force rejection, the cloned organs took, and this morning they were able to start grafting skin. The oxygen content of the room is still high, and he'll need a breather for a few days to follow, but after that his lungs should be fully functional."

"The Emperor would never have allowed this," Mara said with a slight shake of her head.

"Obviously. This could have been done when he was first injured. Instead, the emperor immediately encased him in a living, moving coffin. How Palpatine must have feared him."

"My Master feared no one!" Mara snarled. Luke turned, surprised, and looked at her. She glared back, her nostrils flaring. "He was a master of the Dark Side, the most powerful Force user in the galaxy."

"He was evil, Mara."

She blinked and looked quickly away.

"My father told me a little about how you were raised in the palace. It must have been very difficult."

"I despise pity, Farmboy."

"I see." Luke said nothing, merely watching as his father suffered. "I pity him, though. He fell to the Dark Side out of a longing to protect his family. His own love betrayed him. And look at the terrible price he paid for that betrayal."

"Love." It was not a question, or even a comment. It was a snort of derision and contempt. "Love is for blind fools. It's a word used to manipulate the weak-minded, just as surely as your precious Jedi mind tricks. I used it to lure my first target to his death."

"When you were sixteen," Luke said.

"Sixteen," she said. Her eyes never left the scene in the surgical theatre below. He did notice, however, how both her hands left their grip of the railing and balled into tight fists.

"When I was sixteen, I went on my first date with a girl named Cami. I drank too much ale. I got in a fight. I got yelled at a lot by my uncle."

"I murdered a diplomat," she whispered.

Luke started to reach to her, but then stopped himself. "I don't pity you, Mara. But I do wish you'd had a chance to live a normal life, even for a little while. It gave me something to fight for, to identify with. I know who and what I'm fighting for, because I've been on that side."

Finally she turned and looked at him, her eyes wide but her thin red lips pursed in a tight line. "I had more important things to do that go on dates and get in stupid adolescent fights."

"Yes. You had to kill a diplomat."

"Go to hell, Skywalker," she muttered. She brushed past him and marched out of the room.

Down below, Tallisabeth looked up at the motion and saw Mara walking away. When she returned her tired eyes to Anakin, he too was looking up at the observation lounge. His eyes, like his face, were sunken, dark and bloodshot with pain.

"Your apprentice is filled with rage and hatred," she said. "She carries a great deal of pain. The light is buried very deep inside."

Anakin's voice was reedy and weak without his mask. Nonetheless, and despite the pain she knew he was in, the former Darth Vader chuckled. "Who better to save her? After all, he saved me."

"He'll be a great Jedi," she agreed. "He held those two bickering children in the air far longer than I could have, and I sensed no effort from him. Now I understand why Master Yoda would agree to train him at such a late age."

"Keep in mind the shortage of candidates, as well," Anakin pointed out.

"Shut up now, Ani," Tallisabeth said. "The worst is done. Save your strength for recovery."

"You give me strength," Anakin said. He looked at her, unblinking. His gaze was as disconcerting now, even in his illness, as it was twenty-odd years ago.

"Hush now, Ani. And rest."

"You will be here when I wake?"

"Yes."

Anakin Skywalker closed his eyes let himself drift into the Force, at peace in spite of the pain. Whether intentionally or not, he fell into a Force trance, and within that meditation found himself standing alone in the Jundland Wastes. Sand swirled around him, obscuring the sky and cliffs. From the sands he saw a hooded figure approaching.

The figure wore the traditional robes of a Jedi knight, and as he stopped before Anakin, he brought the hood back to reveal his face.

"Master," Anakin said instinctively, feeling almost like a teenager again.

"It has been many years since you called me that," Obi-Wan Kenobi said.

"You should have killed me," Anakin said. "For all the things I had already done, and all the things I would do, you should have killed me."

"I couldn't kill you, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "Any more than Padmé could have. I loved you. It was more than I could bear having to hurt you at all. But still I failed you, my friend. If I had shown you more affection, or told you that I knew about you and Padmé, perhaps it would have been different. In the end, I did not, and I failed you when you needed me most. And in penance for that, I spent the rest of my life watching over your son, and ensuring the safety of your daughter."

"I failed you more, Master," Anakin said. "I failed all the Jedi. As much as I hated you for what you did to me, I am thankful for you that you saved my children. It hurts still, but I realize now they could never have stayed with me. The Emperor would never have allowed it."

"Anakin, you have always had a need to be loved, mixed with an equal need for control. The Emperor knew exactly how to turn you. We Jedi, who were supposed to renounce personal love and attachment of any kind, simply weren't able to give you what you needed."

"Am I to be a Jedi again?" Anakin asked.

"You always were, Anakin, you just never realized it."

Suddenly, the wind and sand died away. Anakin looked around in confusion as the familiar sight of Tattoine began cracking, as if the horizon were made entirely of glass. The pieces fell away into the darkness of space. Soon he stood in nothingness, surrounded by the void. There were too few stars in the sky, until he turned and saw the mass of the galaxy before him.

And something else.

"Yes," Kenobi said. "That is where the Prior ships come."

It looked almost like a hyperdrive transport ring, only many, many times larger. The ring was composed of what looked like dozens of smaller ships linked together to form a large circle. The circle was large enough to allow passage of a frigate.

As Anakin and Obi-Wan watched, a billow of blue like water pushed out from the center of the ring. "I do not understand this," Anakin said.

"Watch."

A prior ship emerged from one side of the ring, although Anakin could not see where it came from. "A teleportation device?"

"They are called Stargates," Kenobi said. "Through the Force I have seen galaxies filled with such devices. Of all the galaxies in our cluster, all but ours and three more near the edge of the cluster have these devices. They are ancient, some only hundreds of thousands of years old, some millions of years old. They provide immediate travel between worlds through artificial wormholes, and with sufficient power, between galaxies. And they were built by the first humans."

"Humans? But history records only eighty thousand years of human history, starting with Coruscant. How could humans have built these devices in other galaxies?"

"The humans of this galaxy arrived by accident," Kenobi said. "I see so much, now; so much of what we have been, and what we will be. The first humans were stranded here, and forced to remain. But they were unique among the races of this galaxy. They were highly advanced creatures and had many powers we came to associate with the Jedi today. Have you never wondered why so many of the Jedi were human? When those first humans died, they rose beyond even the Force, ascending into another plane of existence I can only glimpse. But it is not a plane out of our reach. My master has ascended to that plane."

"Qui-Gon?" Anakin whispered. Even after all this years, he spoke of his first Jedi master with reverence. "But to ascend sounds like the Ori."

"The Ori were also ancient humans once," Oi-Wan said. "They took a different path than the humans from which our Galaxy was seeded. They sought a path of selfishness, hatred and power. They used their powers to exert dominion over the peoples of their galaxy, and when they ascended, claimed the mantle of godhood. And none may join them."

Anakin realized immediately what that meant. "The Path of Origin?"

"A lie used to maintain their domination. It is also why they force worlds under their control to live in an agrarian culture. The less advanced the culture, the less likely they are to be questioned. The Ori feed off the adoration and worship of their subjects, and grow stronger as a result."

"Can the Ori be stopped?"

"It is difficult to say," Obi-Wan said. "The Ori do not exist in a vacuum. The higher plane is filled with ancient and powerful beings. Should these beings fight, whole galaxies could cease to exist. The fabric of the universe itself could be threatened. And so, most of these ancient beings do not fight. They would sooner themselves perish than for the universe to die."

"And the Ori?"

"The Ori have no such compunction, and would gladly see existence end than to cede defeat or even a stalemate. In every sense of the word, my former padawan, these creatures are evil."

"Tell me what to do, master!" Anakin begged.

"You will know what to do when the time comes, if you are at peace with yourself and those around you. More than that, I cannot say."

Obi-Wan bowed to his former pupil. The next words Anakin heard were not those of his old master, but the scintillating depths of a woman's voice ordering him to open his eyes.

He obeyed and found himself staring with his own eyes into two cobalt pools of infinite depth. "It is done," Tallisabeth said, smiling tiredly. She placed a hand on his cheek. The warmth of her touch was like nothing he had felt in over two decades. "Darth Vader is dead. Anakin Skywalker has returned."

0-0-0

Luke stared unabashedly at his father, while Leia was too polite and diplomatic to stare openly, but too fascinated not to at least cast furtive glances. Each look was quickly followed by a quick glance at a wall, or a table, or the flimsiplast reports in her hand. Anakin Skywalker lived. He breathed with his own lungs for the first time in twenty-five years. He grasped objects with two real, living hands. He walked on real, living feet. He was able to see with his own eyes, hear with his own ears and smell with his own nose.

They sat in an open alcove looking out over the tranquil oceans of Mon Calamari, while the tangy morning breeze blew salty air around them. The three sat alone, though Tallisabeth was cajoling Clighal to join the fledgling Jedi academy in the next room.

"So you are my father," Leia said.

Emotions flashed across Anakin's face: a flash of anger, sadness, hurt; resigned acceptance. Without his mask, there was nothing to hide his emotions behind, and his lack of practice in controlling his expressions showed. "Yes." His voice sounded so perfectly normal, it seemed impossible to either of the twins that this could be THE Darth Vader.

"You're not what I imagined. You're younger than I thought."

"I was younger than Luke is now when I was lost to the Sith," Anakin said. "You were both born on my twenty-fourth lifeday. I am 46 years old."

Luke leaned forward in surprise. "We share Lifedays?"

"Under the Coruscant calendar, yes," Anakin said. "I just wish I had been there to see you born." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Under different circumstances, of course."

"So what are we going to do next?" Leia asked.

"Tallisabeth thinks Darth Vader should die," Anakin said. "Palpatine was always very careful to limit the knowledge that the hero of the Clone Wars had become Darth Vader."

"The Rebel Alliance advisory council knows," Leia said, "but as far as I know Mon Mothma never let the information out to the rebellion at large. The only problem I can see is how the Imperial Remnant would take it. Darth Vader was the driving force behind the Empire's adherence to the new Alliance. Would the moffs and admirals continue to abide by the Alliance without the threat of Darth Vader over their heads?"

"Piett would," Anakin said. "He is a staunchly loyal officer. Many of the other admirals would as well, just because of Piett. However, the Moffs I am not so sure of."

"Plus there is the back story," Luke said. "How would we explain the re-emergence of the greatest hero of the Clone Wars after so many years?"

Anakin's blue eyes, almost a perfect match for Luke's, took on a distant look as he stared out over the ocean. "I fell to Darth Vader on Mustafar," he said at last. "I could not save my wife, and so went into exile. I was on a far away world when I heard that my son lived; only then did I return to find I had not only a son, but a daughter. It is true, after all, from a certain point of view."

Luke grinned. "Ben, I mean Obi-Wan, said something like that to me once."

"And the other Jedi?" Leia said. "I know Mara's not going to be happy."

"Mara does not know how to be happy," Anakin said, without a trace of humor. "She was raised since early childhood in the palace to be an agent of death." He looked at Luke. "It will take a great deal to turn her fully to the light side of the Force."

"That I believe," Luke said. "Are we decided then? Darth Vader is dead, and Anakin Skywalker has returned to us from his exile?"

"And as civilian head of the Galactic Alliance government, I can appoint Anakin Skywalker as supreme commander of the allied forces for the duration of the war against the Ori," Leia said. "After all, no one can fault your war record. Even I have heard of Anakin Skywalker. That was one of the reasons why General Dodonna was so eager to have Luke, and to let him pursue his Jedi training, because of the Skywalker name."

"And we'll just deal with the Moffs when it comes to it," Luke said.

0-0-0

Four hours later, the shuttle docked without incident onboard the _Executor_ and Admiral Firmus Piett stood waiting for them with an entire legion of storm troopers and officers in perfect formation. Han Solo stood at his side in of all things an imperial officer's uniform, complete with general's insignia, looking uncharacteristically well-groomed and clean pressed, with Mara Jade and Kyle Katarn right behind him.

Piett stared intently and seemed to recognize the man who had been Darth Vader immediately. "Supreme Commander Anakin Skywalker, welcome aboard," he said with a bow.

Anakin stared at Piett, his cheeks blushing furiously. "Thank you, Grand Admiral Piett. It is a pleasure to see your ship for the first time."

"And it is an honor to see you, Commander. I and some of the older officers remember serving with you during the Clone Wars."

Anakin stared. "Yes," he said. "I do remember a Lieutenant Piett. Odd, that I would only make the connection now."

"A new perspective, perhaps," Piett said.

Anakin found his throat clogging up and had to cough to clear it. "Thank you, Firmus. Have the Moffs made any rumblings?"

"They rumbled, sir, but I and the rest of the admiralty assured them we would brook no disloyalty. The Galactic Alliance must stand if we hope to have any chance against the Priors."

Anakin looked over the assembled officers and the man who had proven his loyalty even when such loyalty was never deserved, and smiled. "Even during the height of the Clone Wars, I have never served with a finer crew. We do not need hope to defeat the Ori, they will need hope to survive us."

He spoke loud enough for every man to hear, and Luke and Leia both were shocked when highly disciplined imperial officers and stormtroopers raised their fists and shouted affirmation to what the former Darth Vader was saying. "A new day," Luke whispered to her. "And a new beginning."


	18. Chap 17: Love and War

I was happy to see many more reviews these last two posts. Thanks to everyone for reading. This is late, but my better half was in the hospital yesterday, so I had other things to do. Alls well that ends well, and so here we go with the next chapter.

Thanks again for reading. Enjoy!

DM

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****Chapter Seventeen: Love and War**

Naboo was the first planet saved, but not the last. Next was Cato Neimodia, though Anakin appeared ambiguous in his efforts there. "A lot happened here during the Clone Wars," he merely said.

Then came Hypori and Ithor. Ithor especially was gratifying since the Priors put up a fierce fight, unleashing twenty priors and as many ships. Ithor was the first time Kyle and Mara joined in the effort. Kyle suffered broken ribs when a Prior threw him onto the roof of an Ithorian music hall, but Mara fared better, killing a Prior by herself and distracting two more while Luke and Anakin finished the rest off.

After the battle, as the grateful Ithorians performed a choral pierce more complex than anything a human choir was capable of, Luke found Mara standing at the very back of the open-air stadium under a massive tree. He put a hand on her shoulder and said: "You did well, today."

"Praise from a farmboy," she muttered. "What I always wanted." She did not move away from the touch on her shoulder, however.

With an unfamiliar flash of mischief, Luke said: "I thought you always wanted Kyle."

It took former assassin a moment first to recognize the fact that Luke Skywalker was joking, then to realize he was joking about her and Kyle; and finally to accept the fact that it was a very bad joke. "That was so pathetic I can't even be mad about it," she said.

Luke didn't let the withering appraisal dim his smile. "You think so? Han told me I should give up the Jedi business and try professional comedy."

"Skywalker, when people laugh around you, they're laughing AT you, not WITH you."

"Ohh," Luke said with feigned disappointment. "That explains it."

He dropped his hand and turned to stand beside her in the back row as the Ithorians lifted their multiple throats in harmonies and melodies of aching beauty. In the audience below, Leia and Han sat on Anakin Skywalker's left side, while Tallisabeth sat on the other. Luke noticed with a sense of shock that the two Jedi's hands were very subtly touching.

"Disgusting, isn't it?" Mara muttered, following his gaze. "Ever since Mon Calamari, she's been hovering around him. Calling him 'Ani' this and 'Ani' that. It's no wonder he turned to the dark side with everyone calling him by a girl's name."

Luke couldn't help but snort with laughter. He turned to her and said; "Mara, you are evil, aren't you?" he said.

The smile faded. "Sometimes I wonder," she said. "I liked killing that Prior. Jedi aren't supposed to enjoy killing, are they?"

"No, they're not," Luke said, no longer smiling. "Mara, have you ever known a moment of happiness?"

"After a successful mission, when my master praised me," she said without hesitation.

"How 'bout happiness with no bloodshed?"

She stared at the Ithorian singers for a long moment before shaking her head. "Imperial Center was not a happy place."

"Do you have any memories of your life before the Emperor?"

"No."

Luke nodded and the two stood for a time as the spectacular music poured over them. "Do you have any ideas on what you want to do in the future?"

"My Master told me to not think about the future; that my whole existence should be in the here and now."

"That's funny; Yoda said the same thing to me."

"It's not that funny, Farmboy."

"Perhaps not."

Despite her words, Luke caught the faintest hint of what, on anyone else's face, could be construed as a smile. "Mara, I can't pretend to understand what you've been through. But I'll tell you this—if you don't give up on yourself, I won't give up on you either."

"That's pretty sappy, Luke," she said.

She said his first name. She was scowling at him, but she used his first name. In the twilight of the lush, vibrant planet that was Ithor, Luke realized that Mara Jade was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and she had used his name. "I've always been a little sappy," Luke admitted.

"Well, I'm not, so stop it."

"Of course."

The two watched the rest of the concert in, if not companionable, then at least in peaceful, silence.

The next campaign was the most intense to date as the Prior's attempted to adapt to the new Imperial Alliance tactics. On the lush farm world of Jabim, once the site of the most vicious battles of the Clone Wars, they encountered the very first Ori ground troops. The human soldiers brandished rustic looking armor and staves instead of blasters, but the staves delivered a ferocious blast that pierced armor as readily as any blaster. In addition to the standard Prior Ships, they encountered strange crab-shoe shaped vessels that lacked the Death Star-level firepower, but made up for it with greater speed and maneuverability.

These faster ships immediately set out to meet the incoming Imperial fleet, and specifically to stop the _Falcon_ from delivering her payload of Jedi to the planet.

Once again, Tallisabeth stayed behind with Leia, Clighal and their newest Jedi initiate, an Ithorian named Hoo'shal'da'an. "You may call me Da'an," he said when asked.

Kyle, healed, chagrinned and more prepared, sat in the main hold of the _Falcon_ with Mara, Luke and Anakin. After the first juke sent them all sprawling despite the inertial dampeners, Luke and Anakin both headed up for the bridge. Through the windows, they saw TIE, X-wing and A-wing fighters engaged against the larger, more powerful Ori attack vessels.

"Sorry for the rough ride," Han said through gritted teeth. He flipped his comm switch. "Green Squadron, close up that hole in your flank. Target the far left enemy ship. Rogues, get me some cover!"

"I'm on it, General," Wedge's voice came over the intercom.

"They must not have liked the pasting they got on Ithor," Han muttered.

A pair of star destroyers entered the fray while the rest remained out of the primary Ori weapon's range. The enemies proved to be close in strength and began pounding away at each other while the _Falcon_ soared toward the planet surface.

Once in the atmosphere, everyone aboard the old Corellian freighter realized this mission would be different. "Admiral Piett," Anakin said over his comm.

"Yes, Commander?"

"We have spotted heavy infantry on the surface. We're going to have to land ground forces."

"Understood, Commander. We are limited by the primary Ori vessels, however."

"You are authorized to engage the enemy with the full fleet to affect the landing," Anakin said. "May the Force be with you."

Piett sounded shaken by his commander's words. "Uhh, thank you, Commander."

"Well?" Han said.

"There is a practical limit to how many soldiers we can engage by ourselves," Anakin said. "And we can't get close enough for an orbital barrage with the Prior ships in orbit. We have to get to the Priors to disable the primary ships in orbit, and it is obvious the prior's know this. They are not going to make this easy."

"Then it's all out war," Han said. "I see a butte pretty far out from the main enemy emplacement. Seems like a good staging area."

"Agreed."

0-0-0

In orbit, Leia and Tallisabeth looked on at the tactical holographic display with Piett while the fleet moved forward to engage the fifteen Ori vessels. "We are attempting a new strategy," Piett explained as the two women watched. "We've armed our bombers with diamond-boron tipped shield-penetrating torpedoes. The armaments are extremely expensive, but appear to be the only means of weakening the Ori shields. The bombers are small enough that they can begin fighting before the first destroyer comes within reach of the Ori."

Torpedoes began slamming into the Ori ships well before the fleet came into weapons range, but the smaller Ori attack ships quickly massed around their masters and were able to destroy half of the bombers with each pass. Piett frowned and redirected all TIEs to concentrate on the fighters.

"Admiral," the bridge captain called. "New ships have entered the system. They are Rebel ships, sir. They are hailing us."

"Put them through, Captain," Piett said.

The strategic sphere blinked and was replaced by an image of Admiral Ackbar. "Admiral Piett, this is Admiral Ackbar. In accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Naboo, I am offering the services of the former Alliance fleet. How may we be of assistance?"

Piett opened his mouth to refuse, but stopped when Leia touched his arm. "Admiral, how would you rank Rebel frigates?"

Piett's eyes widened. "Admiral Ackbar, our respects, and we would be glad of your assistance. We are attempting to land troops to begin ground operations against heavy Ori infantry. The cylindrical vessels have shields approximately five times more powerful than standard planetary shielding, with firepower equal to or exceeding the second Death Star. We are going to engage them, but we need the Ori attack vessels neutralized."

"I understand," Ackbar said. "I have ordered our ID codes sent to your friend or foe recognition system."

Piett nodded to the bridge captain, who bent down beside a lieutenant in the command pit. "We have done likewise, Admiral. It is a pleasure to have you with us. I am designating this subspace band as gold command channel one."

"Acknowledged," came Ackbar's curt, professional response. The hologram blinked away, to be replaced by the graph display of the theatre. Immediately, spots of green labeled as Alliance ships engaged the Ori attack ships. The smaller frigates lacked the firepower of an Imperial-class star destroyer, but were agile and still powerful enough to do significant damaged. Flanked by Y and B-wing bombers, they quickly proved themselves equal to the fight.

That was when the Ori struck, taking out one of the Alliance frigates in a single shot. "All ships, open fire on the Ori," Piett ordered. "Full torpedo spread. Warn the Alliance vessels of the fire trajectories."

The first troop transport descended to the butte next to the _Falcon_, dwarfing the freighter. As soon as the main loading bays opened, two massive AT-ATs and three smaller AT-STs lumbered out, flanked by hundreds of storm troopers. The soldiers quickly drew into formation as the second transport came down. By the third, the transports began taking fire from the distant enemy gun placements.

The fourth transport exploded high in the atmosphere even as the sixth and seventh continued down. Thereafter, each transport took heavy fire, with one in three destroyed. In the end, though, a large enough force landed to begin the assault.

Both the large and smaller walkers led the charge toward the Ori infantry, while troopers on speeder bikes swooped through enemy lines dropping military-grade thermal detonators and firing with impunity. The Ori troops fought valiantly, but were obviously unaccustomed to the speed and ferocity of modern galactic warfare.

The Ori soldiers did not run, though. They continued firing their staves against the approaching forces. The stave blasts pierced any armor, even the armor of an AT-AT, but the weapon beams were so narrow that only a very luck shot, or a massive number of shots, was sufficient to destroy the large attack transports. Even so, when the soldiers concentrated their fire on the "head" of an AT-AT, lashing it with hundreds of beams, the command crew inside instantly died and the head itself exploded under the assault. The whole walker tumbled over.

There was little doubt of an Imperial victory, the only question would be the cost. Since the Ori soldiers refused to yield ground or surrender, the Stormtroopers had little choice but to kill them, and kill them they did, by the tens of thousands. As Luke and his father passed over the bodies toward the capitol city and namesake of Jabim, the Jedi felt disgust and awe over the willingness of the soldiers to die for their cause.

"Religious fervor," Anakin said, sensing his thoughts. With enemy some soldiers still remaining, it was actually safer to approach the city on foot than in a larger transport that could attract fire. "The Ori promise their followers ascension upon death. These men fight with the belief that death will only bring them to a greater level of existence."

"I sense nothing like that," Luke said.

"The Ori lie."

"There were almost a billion people on Jabim," Kyle said. "Where are they? Do you think it was another plague?"

"Some of them managed to escape to the Alliance," Anakin said. "Those that remained have been enslaved, or possibly even killed. It is possible some even served as soldiers if they were converted thoroughly enough."

The Jedi led their ground forces on foot toward the city, quickly destroying any residual resistance they encountered. In the cobalt sky, they could see the battle raging in the heavens overhead. Finally, they reached the city itself. Luke and Anakin both felt the disturbance first and managed to push the other two out of the way as the Ori faithful opened fire from the spires and skyscrapers lining the city.

"I don't sense any civilians," Luke said.

"Neither do I," Anakin agreed, "just lots of soldiers. Piett!"

The comm unit barked static before Piett's voice emerged: "Commander?"

"We're taking sniper fire. We believe the city has been evacuated. Lock on to these coordinates and fire on any life signs scanned in buildings."

"We'll do our best, Commander," Piett said. "We're under heavy fire and have taken losses."

"You best effort, Commander," Anakin said.

He looked up in time to see the tiny triangle of a star destroyer in orbit erupt in a billow of flame visible even from the surface. They were pinned down nearly ten minutes until five rapid bolts of green light came down in succession on the five nearest buildings. Fired from the main batteries, each bolt was more than sufficient to obliterate the targeted building. Once the worst of the smoke and dust had faded, the Jedi continued.

"The Ori are two klicks that way," Anakin said. To the young captain who followed the Jedi, he said: "Surround and contain the city. Sweep for any other snipers, but do not engage the Priors themselves."

The nodded and relayed the orders as the Jedi went to meet their enemy.

As they approached, though, Luke couldn't help shake the feeling that this meeting was also going to be different. "I sense something different," he finally said.

"Yes," Anakin agreed.

"It's the Dark Side," Mara said. "I recognize it."

"The Priors are not alone," Anakin said.

The four Jedi emerged into an open square, still ringed with brilliant blue and green trees and carpeted by blue-tinged grass. In the center of an open grassy area stood twenty Priors, arranged in an arch directly facing the Jedi. In the focal point of this arc stood one obscene figure. No, Luke corrected himself, not one figure, but two: one of grotesquely large features, the other barely the size of Yoda, but horrifically thin. Both held lit lightsabers.

"What in the sithspit is that?" Kyle demanded.

"Gorc and Pic," Anakin said darkly. "Pets of High Inquisitor Jerec. They are dark Jedi."

"Jerec?" Kyle said. "I'd completely forgotten about the Inquisitorius. Where are the rest of his pets?"

"I don't sense them," Luke said. "And why deploy all their dark Jedi when the Ori can simply use a few at a time to augment priors?"

The smaller figure rode on the shoulder of the larger and started making rude sounds. "Come little children, come play with Pic," the creature spat at them.

"The Ori have made friends, it seems," Anakin said darkly. "Jerec is a dangerous man with a great deal of resources through the Inquisitorius. This could change things."

"So what do we do now?" Kyle said.

Mara lit her blade. "We fight, of course."

The other Jedi lit their blades, and charged into the fray. The massive Gorc immediately raised one massive arm and Kyle was lifted off his feet, grasping at his throat. Anakin pushed his hand out in a powerful force shove that tipped the monster off his feet, if just barely. The tiny Pic leaped in a nimble flip from his partner's shoulder and then disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Mara screamed.

"Use the Force to sense him," Anakin said. "It is nothing more than a petty trick."

Mara tried, but then the Priors struck as one, and the ground shattered under their feet. Luke launched himself into the air, but then felt a blow slam into his side as a Prior swung his staff. Luke gathered the Force and landed in a roll that brought him up within centimeters of another Prior, who swung his staff in a deadly blow. Luke spun away with preternatural speed and sliced backward, removing the Prior's head. The flame followed, and then there were nineteen.

"Father and Mara are handling the Dark Jedi," Luke shouted to Kyle. "We need to concentrate on the Priors!"

Kyle was swinging his saber viciously against five Priors. "You don't say!" he managed to snap back.

In the center of the field, Anakin exchanged blows with the massive Gorc. The creature was a brute, with only a minimal grasp of Force technique. What made him dangerous was the sheer power with which he wielded those minimal techniques. He knew the Force chokehold and not much else, but his grip was deadly, and his massive saber produced a blade nearly as long as Anakin was tall. However, he was also slow, and the former Sith used that to his advantage.

Nearby, Mara was swinging her blade to form a shield of sorts against the still invisible Pic. The Priors stood nearby, attacking when opportunity presented itself. Twice Mara was thrown to the ground and had to draw not just on the Force, but every ounce of her extensive training, to avoid Pic's small but effective blade.

Suddenly Anakin was there, helping her back to her feet. Nearby she saw the still smoking neck of Gorc without the massive square head. "Center yourself," he told her. "Draw on the Force, and let it be your eyes."

"I can't do it for very long," Mara snarled. "That little bastard stays invisible longer than I can keep my focus."

There was a flash of red. Anakin reached out with one hand, and they heard an angry squeal. The former Sith spun just as two Priors approached and, using the Force, slingshot the tiny Dark Jedi like a missile. Pic lost his invisibility as he slammed into one of the Priors with a painful-sounding thud. Anakin threw his saber with his free hand, and the second crumpled as well. The saber came back to the Jedi's hand.

"You really need to show me how to do that," she said.

"Perhaps," Anakin said. He launched himself back to the battle.

"A little help," Kyle shouted. He had managed to kill one of the priors, but was bruised and bleeding from the continued pounding. Mara jumped to his side, only to feel a massive force swat her from the air. She landed with a thud and barely found the strength to roll onto her back as three priors bore down on her with their staffs. The crystals in each glowed, and she could feel the death in them.

She heard an angry roar, and saw a blur as Luke Skywalker cut one down in a flash of green energy, Force-shoved another clear across the park and lifted the third so high into the air with the Force the man screamed as he fell with a bone-crushing thud back to the soil.

"Are you alright?" he said, his eyes ablaze and his chest heaving.

"Better than you," she said. "What was that about?"

"Later," he said, swallowing as he forced himself back to a semblance of calm. Kyle was getting help from Anakin, and one-on-one proved a much better match for the priors. When only two remained, the Jedi again repeated their tactic of pulling the staffs and destroying the crystals, and once more the main Ori battle ships in orbit died.

The attack ships, though, continued the battle. Without the heavy fire support of the Ori destroyers, however, the attack ships soon withered and died as well under the overwhelming combined fire of the Galactic Alliance fleet. They had won the day and Jabim was once more free.

Leaving the clean-up to Piett, Luke was the first to return to the ship. The others followed on the next shuttle. He was in his quarters when Mara found him. "Now, you want to tell me what that was about down there?" she demanded.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were angry, oh great Jedi. More than angry. I felt…dark, in you."

He stared up at her, blinking. "You needed help."

"You didn't go crazy with Dark Side rage when Kyle needed help. And believe me, he needed it a lot more than I did."

"They were going to kill you," Luke explained, speaking slowly as he continued to try and center himself. "It wasn't just a threat, it was going to happen. I saw through the Force that you would not survive. I had to save you."

"You had to save me so bad you touched the Dark Side? I'm not that special, Farmboy."

He stared at her for a long moment before he said: "Yes you are."

Mara blinked, at a complete loss of words. Finally, she said the only thing that popped into her head. "Luke, you're an idiot, you know that?"

"I've been told that more than once."

His gaze was disconcerting and powerful; she realized he was looking at her now in a way she'd never been looked at by anyone else. It made her at once intensively uncomfortable, and strangely exultant. "I'm not worth it," she said finally.

"Yes you are," Luke said. His cheeks were flushed a bright red, and he looked nearly feverish. "You're worth it. More. You're a greater threat to my balance in the Force than the Ori."

She reared back. "Then maybe I should…"

He grabbed her wrist, pulled her in and kissed her. The exultantion exploded into fear, a fear she could not even define or understand. But understanding or no, her fear could lead to only one response.

She pushed away from him and slapped him. Hard. His cheek, already red from his blush, now looked almost purple. The hurt in his eyes was so strong he might as well have been bawling, though he made not a sound. "I'm sorry," he said through gritted teeth. "I should not have done that."

"No, you shouldn't," Mara said. She did not sound very sure of herself, though.

"Please don't let this affect how you feel about your place here," he finally said, adopting a calm, passive face he presented when he faced Jabba. "We still need you, Mara, whatever else I may…have assumed. You too valuable to the Jedi. This incident won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't." She turned her back on him and walked out. She continued walking through the halls of the ship until she found her own quarters, dropped her lightsaber on her night table and sat on her bunk. With a nudge of the Force she locked her door, tucked her knees up on her chin, lay on her side, and cried for the first time since she was a little girl.


	19. Chap 18: Lost Jedi

Thanks for the positive feedback. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story. I'm seeing a lot of hits on my stats, so it looks like we have quite a few people reading. That is wonderful.

Note--I tried to keep Luke from becoming a Mary Sue character. If there is any part of the story where I slip, it's here. Still, it's important for the rest of the story.

Enjoy! DM

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**Chapter Eighteen: Lost Jedi**

News of Jabim quickly made its way across the Holonet to all the free worlds if the former Empire. One by one, those worlds that were not represented at the Treaty of Naboo quickly pledged their allegiance to the new Galactic Alliance, and those moffs who had grumbled after the death of Vader stopped when they saw the wave of military success and public support.

The success came at a price, though. Twenty Victory-class star destroyers were destroyed at Jabim, as well as two rebel frigates. However, many of the worlds joining, and those non-Ori planets from within the former Empire, pledged materiel and personnel, and for the first time it appeared they had a chance to truly stop the Ori advance from sweeping at will across the galaxy.

It was two weeks after the battle of Jabim, as the fleet was re-supplying at Felucia, that an unidentified ship came out of hyperspace almost within a stone's throw of the _Executor_. Proximity alerts flooded the ship as the on-duty captain ordered all weapons to bear. The ship did not attack, however. Instead, the Alliance flagship received a short transmission, audio only. "This is Jedi Knight Ferus Olin. I wish to speak to Supreme Commander Skywalker."

The captain sputtered. "You have entered restricted pace. You will surrender your ship and prepare to be…" He stopped when Commander Skywalker stepped onto the command deck. "At ease, Captain," he said. "This is Anakin Skywalker. Who is this?"

"This is Ferus Olin. I wish to talk to you, in private, aboard my ship."

A few steps behind Anakin, Tallisabeth also entered the command deck. "The Ferus Olin?" she said.

There was a pause on the other side. "Commander Skywalker, who is that with you?"

"This is Tallisabeth," she answered for herself. "You called me Scout when I was a padawan."

The voice paused again. "I came for Skywalker. Will you meet with me, in private?"

"Yes, Ferus. I will meet with you."

The signal ended. "Anakin," Tallisabeth said, "I sense anger in his voice. I think he's going to try and hurt you."

"Yes," Anakin said, with a nod. "And he has every right to his anger. But we both know we was a powerful knight, and very good with a blade. I will meet with him, alone."

"And if he tries to kill you?"

He turned to her and smiled, still unused to the freedom of the expression. "It's not as if he has no reason. I'll defend myself, but I won't hurt him."

"I'll hold you to that." He nodded and left the command deck.

Anakin took a small personal shuttle that was capable, if just barely, of fitting into the hold of Ferus Olin's ship. Around him, he felt not just Olin's presence, but the Force presence of several others, and knew that Tallisabeth's concerns were legitimate. This was a trap. But the presences he felt were not Dark Jedi. He took a deep, calming breath, and then walked out of the shuttle, into the holding bay of Olin's craft.

He was met by five azure lightsabers, and in the center, the dark countenance of Ferus Olin. "Welcome aboard, Darth Vader," the Jedi said. "You will not be leaving this room alive."

"Ferus," Anakin said. He turned and studied the other four Jedi. Two were in their thirties, likely padawans at the time of the purge, one appeared to be still in his teens, while one woman he knew was his age. "Olana Chion, I am glad to see you survived."

"Are you?" the female Jedi Knight snarled. "And what about Cin Drallig and the younglings?"

"I killed them, yes," Anakin said. "I was a pawn of the Emperor, and a willing one at that. I deserve neither mercy nor kindness. And I do not ask it." He unhooked his saber, but before anyone could attack, he tossed it on the deck. "If your soul needs vengeance, Ferus, Olana, take it. Strike me down and take my life. But when you're done, I want you and your Jedi to go aboard the _Executor_ and join Tallisabeth and my son in the fight against the Priors. The Jedi must be reformed if we are to survive, especially now that the Ori have recruited Jerec and the Inquisitorius to assist them."

The younger Jedi stared at each other in obvious confusion; Ferus said, "This is a trick."

"That really is Scout on board the _Executor_," Anakin said. "We have three former Rebel Jedi: my son Luke, his sister Princess Leia Organa, and Kyle Katarn. We have since recruited a Mon Cal and an Ithorian initiate. Plus, there is Tallisabeth."

Olana Chion took a step closer and her blue saber came within millimeters of his neck. "Do you expect us to believe you could have had children? With whom?"

"Senator Amidala and I were married after Geonosis," Anakin said. "After I fell to the dark side, Obi-Wan and Yoda split my children up and made it appear they had died with their mother. I raged inside when I first learned about them, but now I realize it was the right decision."

"And you expect us to believe everything is somehow all right now?" Ferus demanded. "You are Sith. You murdered nearly the entire Jedi order."

"Yes. And if it is the only way to make you join our cause against the Priors, I will gladly give you my life in penance."

"We would prefer you not, though," a new voice said. The assembled Jedi looked up as Luke Skywalker walked into the hold from a side airlock. Kyle, Mara, Leia and Tallisabeth were a step behind him, their lightsabers in hand but unlit.

"This is none of your concern," Ferus snapped.

"It is my concern," Luke said calmly. "I did not turn my father from the Dark Side only to have you cut him down when he's needed most."

"Luke," Anakin said, "Ferus needs his vengeance, and we need his sword. Everything he said is true; please do not try to stop him."

"I will not stop him," Luke said. "I will not fight you or your Jedi, Knight Olin. I will give you a choice, instead." He continued walking until he stood beside his father. He looked long and hard at Olana until she took a step back, and then stepped directly in front of his father. "If you strike my father down, you will have to kill me as well. And when you are done, my sister, Princess Leia Organa. And after her, Mara."

"Not me, though," Kyle said. "No offense, Darth…uh, I mean, Anakin, but I'm not that big a fan."

Anakin laughed without taking his eyes from Olin. "That is all right, Katarn. Somehow I think my soul can rest at peace even knowing you weren't willing to die for me."

Luke did not smile, nor lift his eyes from Ferus Olin. "You are powerful," Ferus said. "You shine in the Force even more than your father did."

"And yet, I need him," Luke said. "Master Yoda told me to rebuild the Jedi Order, and after my sister, my father was the first knight I recruited. I need him, and I need you, Knight Olin. In our last engagement with the Priors, we learned that the Inquisitorius had sided with them. While we Jedi fought them on the planet surface, we lost over three hundred thousand men and women, twenty two capital ships and an untold number of losses on the ground. And the fighting will become more intense with each engagement. The Ori are a cancer in this galaxy, a plague rejected by the Force. If we are to win, we must have every Jedi on our side. Will you join us, Ferus Olin?"

"We cannot join with him," Olin said, nodding toward Anakin.

"I'm not asking you to join him," Luke said. "I'm asking you to join me in rebuilding the order."

Ferus deactivated his saber and moved to stand directly in front of Luke. "You're too young to have been a padawan in the Order. How were you trained?"

"At first by Obi-Wan Kenobi, and then by Master Yoda."

"When did you start your training?"

"At age 19. I'm twenty six now."

The younger Jedi behind Olin smirked. "And you call yourself a Jedi Knight?" Olin demanded. "Why should we entrust the rebuilding of the Jedi Order to you?"

"Because I am the chosen one," Anakin said behind his son. "And as the prophecy foretold, I have brought balance to the force: in the form of my son. He hasn't had the lifetime of induction of the old Jedi, and yet I would be hard-pressed, even reborn as I am, to defeat him in a straight duel. He has all the strength of the Jedi, without any of the blindness and prejudice that led to the old Order's downfall. And it would have fallen, Ferus. If not at my hands, then at another's. Either way, the old order was doomed. Why do you think Tallisabeth and I, full knights of the Order, and I sitting on the Jedi Council, have ceded control of the new order to him? He is the future."

If Luke was embarrassed, he showed no sign of it. Instead, he continued staring at Ferus Olin. "I was the youngest human knight in the Order," Olin said. "I left because of your father's treachery. But make no mistake; I am a master. I do not need to take orders from a mere _padawan_."

"Nor will you," Luke said, realizing the hardest battle was done. "But if you fight with us, you will take orders from the Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance, and his second officer. We need you very much, but only if you can accept our orders."

One of the younger Jedi, a woman only a few years older than Luke with her dark hair pulled back, said: "Ferus, this isn't what we planned."

Olin looked beyond Luke to Anakin. "I am trying, Vader, but as hard as I look, I can't find the Dark Side in you. Even when you were a teenager I could feel darkness in you, but not now."

"It died with Vader," Anakin said. "I am Anakin Skywalker, now. I am a Jedi Knight. The darkness has been burned away in a blaze of agony I doubt you could understand."

Olin spun away and stalked toward the far wall of the hold. The other Jedi deactivated their blades, but made no move, waiting for their leader to decide. After a moment, Olana Chion left them and walked to Ferus's side. Luke watched as she put her hand on his shoulder, and the way she leaned so close to him as she spoke. He suddenly felt there was a bond, and knew that he would have no arguments from them regarding doing away with some tenants of the old order.

Tallisabeth chose that moment to walk past Luke and Anakin, past the three other Jedi, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with Olana and Ferus. "Ferus, you and Olana both know me. I was never the greatest knight, but I was always aligned in the light. Join me in the Force. Look into my mind now, and see what I have seen."

The three shared a moment of silence, after which Chion looked in surprise from Tallisabeth to Anakin, and back. "And the prohibition is gone?" she whispered, as if shocked.

Luke knew what they were talking about. "I didn't even know about it," Luke admitted with a smile. "Master Yoda never mentioned it during my training."

"I can't believe we're doing this," Ferus said, and Luke knew they had won.

He turned to his father and smiled. "Now we are over a dozen."

The ship was taken aboard the Executor, and the new Jedi were introduced to the old. Ferus Olin was the undisputed master of the new group, with Olana Chion his second. Both were fully trained knights of the old Order who managed to survive the Purge and Vader's hunt afterward. The next two, Jake Lo'gann and Ekria, had been padawans during the purge and despite numerous run-ins with the Inquisitorius had managed to survive. Both were beautiful specimens, and all Luke or anyone else had to do was look at them to know they were a pair.

The fifth and youngest member of the group was a red-skinned Zeltron named Darana. Her blue hair hung in a braid almost to the small of her back, and though only a teenager, she had the voluptuous curves so common to her empathic, passionate race. He caught one look at Kyle's face the first time the Jedi saw her, and pulled him aside to say: "What would Jan say?"

"Jan would say hook up with her and save a space," Kyle said. "Did you not see that girl?"

"Kyle, she's only seventeen. And you're better than that."

"Oh, I know," Kyle said without a hint of sincerity on his face. "Tell _her_ that, though."

With 13 knights, they immediately decided to relocate to a larger hangar bay. Additional resources were requisitioned as well, providing more training equipment for the new academy. Luke knew what would have to happen first, however.

Ferus knew it too, as did the rest. As soon as the group was introduced and settled into their new room, the Jedi gathered in their new hangar bay where Ferus Olin and Luke Skywalker engaged in a dueling contest.

Whatever he was expecting, Ferus was not expecting the skill of his opponent. Having undergone only a year of sporadic training, he did not anticipate how thoroughly the Force flowed through the younger Skywalker. Luke virtually shined with its light. Plus, the past few months in constant battle against the Priors, and before that, against the Empire, had tested the young Jedi's skills repeatedly.

They fought for over an hour, moving so fast that to the students they became a blur. Even Olin's Jedi were impressed, and Anakin stood watching the contest with a look up unrestrained pride. However, in the end Ferus's vast advantage in training overcame Luke's raw, native talent, and the contest was finally decided when Ferus simultaneously feinted, force-pushed the young Jedi's feet, and force-pulled him from the front into what would have been the point of his sword, had he not pulled it away.

Watching the contest, Anakin's mind drifted back to a similar contest between a young, amazingly gifted Jedi and a much older, wiser, more experienced one. This time, however, the battle ended with a drastically different outcome.

Luke climbed back to his feet; Olin was obviously expecting the dark countenance he would have seen after defeating a young Anakin Skywalker. Instead, Luke was grinning ear to ear. "Now that was a duel!" he said. "Father was right when he said you were one of the best duelists of your age! That was extraordinary!"

"Thank you," Olin said, unsure of what to make of the young leader of the New Jedi Order.

Luke turned to his father. "Ferus and Tallisabeth. I think we've found our dueling masters."

"As I told you," Anakin said.

"So you want Ferus to be the next Cin Drallig?" Olana asked.

Luke walked up to Olin and held out his hand. "I do not know who Cin Drallig is, but I would be honored if you assumed the role of Dueling Master. Tallisabeth has been helping us, but said you would be better suited for the male students."

"You want me to teach your students as well?"

"And me," Luke said. "I do not claim to know everything, Ferus. Like you pointed out, my training was very short. Master Yoda concentrated on those things he thought I needed to know in order to defeat Darth Vader and the Emperor. I believe you could teach me a great deal. If I am a Jedi Master because of my role in the new Jedi Order, you are a master because of your sheer skill and ability. Will you?"

"You're a Jedi Master now, are you?" There was no malice in Olin's voice.

"You tell me, Master Olin."

Olin looked over Luke's shoulder to Anakin. "He must have inherited his mother's attitude, because I know he didn't get it from you."

Anakin shrugged. "He has the best of both. The Force flows through him, but with his mother's goodness. Like his sister."

Olin returned his attention to Luke, and then the rest of the Jedi, who seemed to be waiting for him. "For someone with as little training as you've had, you show remarkable skills. If you aren't a master yet, I have no doubt you soon would be even under the Old Order. Use the title of Master—it's appropriate. Especially if Master Yoda himself passed the chore of rebuilding to you. And I'll accept it as well. You have you're dueling master."

"Thank you, Master Olin."

"And thank you, Master Skywalker."


	20. Chap 19: Women Warriors

I appreciate all the great feedback for these last two chapters. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this. There have been two questions about the Yuuzhan Vong. The first Ori War will be finished before then. This is a novel-length story with a definite conclusion. Although I mentioned a sequel, the sequel is a complete stand-alone story that simply uses the alternate history in GOD&L to explain the relationships between two of the Jedi in that story.

I leave no loose ends with Gods of Dark and Light. That much I can promise.

Thanks for reading!

DM

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Women Warriors**

That night, as Luke sat meditating on his bunk, his door announced a visitor. He willed the door to open, and the young Veltron padawan entered. She still wore the same clothes as before, a single-piece ship jumpsuit of blue that matched her hair, without sleeves and scandalously low cut. "Master Skywalker?"

"Yes, Darana?"

"I heard something earlier, but I wanted to ask you about it myself. About Jedi and relationships. Master Olin always said that Jedi were not allowed to enter into relationships."

"That was a tenant of the Old Order, Darana. I will never agree to a rule like that."

"Jake and Ekria will appreciate that," Darana said with a grin. She had undone her braid and was twisting the ends together nervously. "The only reason they aren't married is because they both want to be real Jedi."

"They can be both. But they're not why you're here, is it?"

She looked around, saw a chair, and pulled it up to sit. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. Even Luke had to struggle to keep his eyes on her face. "Do you know very much about Zeltrons?"

"I was close friends with one during the Rebellion," Luke said. "I understand that Zeltrons experience things to a greater extent than humans."

She grinned. "That's a really neat way of saying it. Anyway, I saw Kyle looking at me, and I saw you tell him not to. Did you not want him to be with me?"

"Kyle has a commitment to another woman, though one he hasn't seen in a while. Jan Ors may have been lost when Coruscant fell. It was that commitment I reminded him of. And also, among humans, it is generally frowned upon for a man of Kyle's age to engage in relations with a teenager."

"My culture has no such inhibitions," Darana said. "It is a joyous occasion, and considered a valuable education for an older partner to be with a much younger one. I was only twe…."

Luke held up a hand and smiled warily. "It's all right, Darana. You are who and what you are, and none of us would change it. If Kyle approaches you, then I trust your judgment in the matter."

"And other men? There are many on this ship, and I see them looking at me and feel what they feel. I do not like being alone, Master Skywalker."

In the Force, she was as alluring as she was physically. Luke had to brace himself to keep his expression neutral. His experiences with Dani during the rebellion taught him just how innocently lascivious the Veltrons could be. And imbued as she was with the force, Darana appeared even more Veltron than normal.

"As long as it does not disrupt the ship's routine or get those men in trouble, or interfere with your training, I will not try to stop you. How does Master Olin feel about this?"

She shrugged, and then grinned. The grin was alluring while at the same time shocking in just how young it made her look, and Luke could feel full well why Kyle had a hard time looking away from the beautiful creature. "He hates the idea of my even being Zeltron. He pretends I'm human. Why do you think I came to you about it?"

With that, she spun around in a curtain of luscious blue hair and flounced out. A moment later, Mara Jade walked in, her eyes narrowed to slits. "What the hell was she grinning about?"

Luke shrugged. "I gave her permission to be a Zeltron."

"You what?" Mara said, her jaw hanging open. "Do you know what a Zeltron teenage girl will do to a shipload of over two hundred and seventy thousand men? We'll have riots in the halls!"

"Mara, I knew a Zeltron in the Alliance. She was a little flirty, but she didn't destroy anything. She…"

"You knew one?" Mara said. "How well did you know her?"

Luke caught his breath. "Mara Jade, are you jealous?"

"You nerf herder," Mara snarled, before she spun around and walked out.

Luke shook his head, and a moment later Han Solo of all people walked it, looking sharp and well pressed in his imperial uniform. "So, I was walking down the hall when I saw a drop-dead gorgeous Zeltron girl skip out of your room with a big grin on her face, and then a minute later, Mara Jade looking like she was about to murder someone. Must be good to be a master, huh?"

Luke laughed at his friend. "Just now I'm trying to decide what I need more: meditation, or a cold shower."

Han laughed and held out a hand to help Luke to his feet. "I have something even better for cooling your heels. You need a briefing. We have our next target."

"Let's go then." They stepped out into the hall, shoulder-to-shoulder. "So, did you ever think you'd be wearing Imperial general insignia?"

"Stars' no!" Han said. "But then, did you ever think you'd be fighting side-by-side with Darth Vader?"

"The galaxy has changed," Luke said.

"Yes it has, and it's going to change a lot more, which is why I came and got you personally." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small box.

"Well, thank you, Han, but you didn't need to buy me anything."

"It's not for you, kid," Han muttered as he rolled his eyes. "It's for your sister. Remember, the Skywalker twin who actually looks good?"

"I do remember that one," Luke said. He opened the box and stared. "Han, that's a wedding band."

"Yep, with a real Alderaanian blue diamond. Cost me about a year's salary, even at the new general's pay grade the imps gave me. I want to ask your sister to marry me."

"That's wonderful. I'm sure she'll say yes," Luke said.

"I'm not," Han said, a little darkly. "Since she took over as the head of the civilian government, I hardly ever see her. I know it's been hard on her, but with the war getting harder with each engagement, I don't want to wait."

Luke stepped and put a hand on his friends shoulder. "Han, I happen to know for a fact that Leia loves you. She's under a lot of pressure right now, though. I think she would appreciate your support and love. And I know she'll appreciate the ring."

"Well, I appreciate your support," Han said. "So I have your permission? I think it's Alderaanian tradition or something."

"Yes, you have it. But if you really want to do it right, don't you think you should ask her father?"

Han stopped cold, one foot still raised for his next step. "Ahh sithspit," he muttered. "I forgot about that one."

"Han, you don't really have to ask anyone's permission to marry Leia but Leia's."

"You don't get it, Luke. I researched both Naboo and Alderaanian marriage customs, and both of them say you're supposed to ask the closest living relative. On Naboo it's the mom first, then dad if no mom, and on Alderaan it's the closest living male. I want to do this right! For her."

"Well, I'll talk to him about it, maybe soften him up," Luke said, seriously trying to hide his smile.

"Great, kid. Now, let's get to the briefing."

"Where is the next target?"

Again, Han's expression darkened. "The Corellia system. All of it, including Centerpoint Station."

"What's Centerpoint Station?"

"You'll find out."

0-0-0

Anakin Skywalker floated weightlessly through the stars, moving from planet to planet with dizzying speed. He felt his old master nearby, guiding him. Basking in the comforting presence, Anakin could not help but wish things had been different, and that he still had Obi-Wan beside him to continue the battle.

"I will be with you, always," Obi-Wan's voice whispered to Anakin. "Just as I was with you during your darkest years. You did not kill me, Anakin, you merely assisted my in becoming one with the Force, as I had to do in order to guide your steps and the steps of your son. As I guide you now. Come, and see."

The galaxy spun, and once again Anakin floated outside the galaxy itself. He did not see a gate, however. Nor did he see any sign of the Ori. Instead, he saw an impossible feat of engineering, a object larger even than the Death Star.

"The Ori bring this against us?"

"The Ori did not build this, the Ancients did," Obi Wan said. "And they built it in another galaxy. They lost it, however, during a conflict, and it has been floating in the void for many centuries. Watch, now."

Strange ships, bulky in design and intimidating in appearance, swarmed from the galaxy to surround the massive ship. Anakin could feel the dark-side pouring out of the ships, and knew these creatures were evil. "Are these Sith? An Army of Sith?"

"Through the Force, once can see other times and places," Obi-Wan said. "What you are seeing happened 60,000 years ago, when the ancient humans were still new to this galaxy. Those are the Rakata, known as the Architects or Builders. Their empire encompasses hundreds of worlds, but they were cruel masters. Their technology is fueled in part through the Dark Side of the force. They have found what will one day be called Centerpoint Station, and they will use it to build the Correllian System."

Time flowed, and Anakin watched in awe as the Rakata first learned and then harnessed the terrifying power of the station. Planets were plucked away from their stars and pulled through hyperspace from all over the galaxy, until the builders of the Infinite Empire had constructed their new star system. Anakin watched as the Rakata used their billions of slaves to build repulsors on each planet, nudging them into stable orbits.

And then he saw something he could not believe. As the station settled into the gravitation null point of two of the engineered planets, bright light flared from one of the elongated arms stretching from the center orb. Through the Force, Anakin felt more than saw as a distant star in a system belonging to enemies of the Rakata expanded, and then went Nova.

The vision ended with a rush, and Anakin returned to his cross-legged position in his bunk. He snapped his eyes open, and in place of the amphibian Rakata, he saw the flashing red hair of his pupil kneeling before him.

"Mara?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Master. Shall I come back?"

"No, I am done. Is it time for the briefing?"

"Yes, Master."

Anakin stood and stretched, luxuriating in the feel of his new muscles. Then he returned his attention to Mara, who had not moved. "Something is bothering you."

"It is a small thing; I'm not even sure I should…"

"Luke."

She looked up at him, then away, her eyes narrowing. "Luke," she agreed, almost angrily. "He kissed me."

"And what did you do?"

"I slapped him silly."

"Which is why Yoda insisted Jedi should not form relationships," Anakin said. "What is it you wish of me?"

"I don't know."

"Okay."

She glared. "That wasn't very helpful. Aren't you suppose to be a Jedi Master now? What should I do?"

Anakin closed his eyes. "I asked Yoda that very question, once. He told me to learn to let go of those things I feared to lose. So I became a Sith Lord and slaughtered hundreds of thousands. You understand now that I hesitate to give advice."

She looked down at the floor.

"Don't do what you think you should do, Mara. Don't let others tell you what to do, or what you should think you should do. Make your own decision, and let it be the one that makes you happiest. There is enough suffering in the world; why make yourself suffer for no reason?"

"Is that what you tell yourself with Tallisabeth?"

At another time, Mara would have risked death with such a question. Now, though, Anakin merely shook his head. "There was a time I would have killed her on sight. Now, the sight of her brings me quiet joy. Though I have caused much pain, Mara, I have also suffered. I will apologize to no one for allowing love back in my life."

Mara bowed her head. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not," Anakin said, though not unkindly. "The Mara Jade I know does not apologize for speaking her mind."

"True," she said without chagrin. "Will you need me or the others at the briefing?"

"No, it would be better if you trained with the others. This is a command briefing more than anything. The hardest battles are yet to come."

0-0-0

"And they have an entire Imperial fleet with them?" Ackbar asked ten minutes into the meeting, incredulous.

The former rebel leader had been commissioned as a grand admiral in the new Galactic Alliance and was of equal rank now to Piett. Crix Madine and Dodonna had also joined the command briefing as Alliance generals.

Surprisingly, Han was also there, as a Corellian, but also as a general in the new Alliance. Leia was there representing the civilian government, as was Ferus Olin. Two former imperial generals made up the rest of the command council.

"So what are we looking at, Captain Treelin?" Anakin asked.

The captain, in his early thirties and obviously from the imperial side of the new alliance, nodded and brought up a detailed holographic representation of the system. "There are five habitable worlds, Corellia, Selonia, Drall, and the twin worlds Tralus and Talus, which are in a binary orbital pattern around the star Corell. In the Gravitational Null point of the twin worlds is Centerpoint Station, an ancient space station 350 kilometers in circumference and 1000 kilometers across. Spread across this system is a fleet of at minimum two thousand victory and imperial-class star destroyers, assorted dreadnaughts, destroyers, and an untold number of fighters. There could be many, many more."

The assembled generals muttered. "That station is larger than the Death Star," Madine said. "What does it do?"

Treelin said: "We do not know. Under the imperial governor there five separate Imperial engineering teams boarded the station, but were unable to determine its origin or its purpose. It is over a million years old, however. It may date back to the Infinite Empire, or possible even older than that."

Anakin remembered his vision and spoke. "Before coming here today, I had a vision an ancient race of humans from another galaxy who built wonders before even the Infinite Empire. These humans built Centerpoint, but then lost it somehow. The ancient Builders found the station, and used it to create the Corellian system itself. They also used it to destroy entire star systems."

The threat hung in the air a moment, sinking into the minds of those listening. "And that's why they're gathering their fleet now," Han said at last. "They could destroy Naboo, or Mon Calamari, and the Galactic Alliance would crumble. We'd lose our support base."

"Do you think the Ori could learn to use the station?" Admiral Piett asked.

"The Ori themselves are the ascended souls of the very humans who may have built it," Anakin said. "They will know how to operate it."

"Obi-Wan showed you this?" Luke asked.

"Yes. He showed me the gate through which the Ori are sending their forces against us, outside of the galaxy. It will be the destruction of that gate that determines the ultimate end to the Ori threat."

"But in the meantime, we have to stop the Ori forces at Corellia," Ackbar surmised. "We need better intelligence however."

"We need Jedi there," Anakin said finally.

"Mara and Kyle would be ideal," Luke said. "Kyle has extensive experience as an operative, as does Mara."

"There may be a personality issue there," Han pointed out. "Meaning they really hate each other."

"So did we," Leia pointed out.

Han shrugged. "Yeah, but that was you and me. We're talking about Kyle and Mara. Do we really want to send two agents who might go after each other with their laser swords in the middle of the mission?"

"Actually, Kyle has already approached me about a different mission," Anakin said. "We'll discuss this with both of them and see how things pan out. I agree with General Solo that this mission is too important to risk any type of personality conflict. I know both Mara and Kyle are professional, but even rancorous thoughts could be enough to expose them to the Priors. Meeting adjourned."


	21. Chap 20: Into the Gundark's Den

I'm glad to see people are still enjoying the story.

On a less happy note, I did have to delete one anonymous review (who isn't as anonymous as he might think) from a person who has actually been flaming me on three different sites for some reason. One site's moderators even had to take action against him, which is somewhat sad. However, it was for this very reason that I set up a forum for GOD&L here on so if anyone would like to lambaste the stand-alone sequal to GOD&L called Heaven Falls, feel free to do it there. However, complaints or spoilers about the sequel are not really appropriate in these chapters because this is not the sequel, this is Gods of Dark and Light.

Sorry for that. Hope it doesn't interfere with anyone's enjoyment of the story.

Questions asked:

1) **No Dakara device.** It is integrated into the Stargate system and no gates were originally established in the GFFA. The supergate components arrived through conventional trans-galactic hyperdrive. It would have been cool, but its not in here.

2) **Ori vs. Vong?** The Ori are virtually gods (hence my title). The Jedi are able to fight them for a couple of reasons I specify through the story, but the Ori truly are gods. They can kill and then reanimate in the same breath through their Priors. In an all out fight, the Vong would get slaughtered. They would put up a fight, of course, but the Vong have no answer to the Priors.

3) **Will Vong be in this story?** Nope. Good idea, but the Yuuzhan Vong war occurs between GODL and Heaven Falls, so I never address it except in the occasional flashback.

4) **Does this mean the Ascended can control the whole Force?** Good question. The ascended of the GFFA (at least in this story) are for the most part Jedi, with an occasional non Jedi thrown in. I'm not sure what exactly that means for the Force, though, since the Ascended beings are described as being in a different dimension. I believe it is implied in Stargate that each galaxy has its own set of higher beings (Merlin's weapon being safe in the Ori's galaxy but not safe to the Ancients in ours, etc.).

Well, thank you for the great comments and reviews. I may have to slow down to one post every two days or so, but I'm still going to try and get this story posted completely as soon as possible. Enjoy!

DM

**Chapter Twenty: Into the Gundark's Den**

"This was a stupid idea, Skywalker," Mara Jade said. The two sat in a modified TIE Avenger just outside the Ort cloud of the Corellian System. The rest of the fleet was on the other side of the galaxy.

"It was your choice," Luke pointed, trying his best to center himself. "But my father was right—we do need intelligence, and your knowledge of old imperial codes makes you the perfect team member. And for some reason, you refused Kyle, who I admit would have been an even better infiltrator than I would have."

The thought of having to share close quarters with the arrogant Kyle Katarn was enough to set her teeth on edge. So, she flew instead with the less arrogant but no less irritating Luke Skywalker. "Kyle wanted to go on his own mission anyway," she said.

She sat in the pilot's see of a new hyper-drive enabled TIE variant with greater armament and shielding. And, in the case of this ship, a second seat. "So, if these Ori are ascended beings, won't they be able to spot us and swat us like bugs?"

"I don't think so. In all of our dealings, the priors reacted to us only after we showed ourselves. If may be that we are as much a blind spot to them as the priors are to us in the Force."

"Or they might have been playing with us hoping we'd be stupid enough to try and infiltrate their forces. We don't even know if the FOF tag will work. We might set off every alarm they have."

"We went over this, Mara," Luke said. "The Corellian resistance had several people placed in key places through the fleet. The FOF tag should work. If not, we're in the fastest TIE fighter ever designed. We'll just turn around and leave."

"And you're sure my skills are the only reason you wanted to go on a solo mission with me?"

Luke heard everything intended in the question. "Remember, you chose me, Mara. But even if it were my choice, and even if I had no feelings in the matter at all, I would have chosen you as a partner. You are a brilliant tactician and as skilled a fighter as any I've seen, and with your background you are uniquely qualified to get us in and out. You were the only person I could have chosen. You are more important to this mission than I am."

"Just seems convenient," she said.

"The Force moves us all in mysterious ways. Now, let's not keep them waiting," Luke said.

Puffing a strand of red hair from her eyes, Mara pulled the hyperdrive throttle, and the stars around the Avenger blurred, swirled, and then jolted back into place amid the howls of alarms.

"Interdiction field!" Mara cried. "The motivator's blown!"

"Where's the interdictor cruiser?" Luke asked.

"Nowhere. The field appears to by system wide!"

"What?!" Luke asked, momentarily startled out of any semblance of Jedi calm. "What can generate a field that large?"

"Do we really need to guess?" Her skilled hands guided the tumbling TIE back into even flight. "Selonia is the outermost of the habitable planets, and we're only a few million klicks from it. We can make it sublight in just a few days."

"Then let's go."

The days passed in silence. All attempts by Luke to strike up a conversation fell on Mara's deaf ears. Eventually, he stopped trying and chose instead to meditate. It was on the third day of his meditations that their comm unit beeped at them. "Unknown TIE, identify yourself."

The voice shocked Luke into consciousness even as Mara answered. "This is Flight 93-4052 from the _Courageous_."

"The _Courageous_ was destroyed two days ago."

"I know, I was there," Mara said, nothing bothering to hide her contempt. "Standing orders in the event of defeat was for all personnel to return to nearest Ori-loyal Imperial beacon."

"Acknowledged," the voice said. "Proceed on current course for intercept."

"Well, the cover story seems to be working. There it is," Luke said, pointing. Mara fallowed the direction of his finger and saw it. The planet Selonia appeared in the distance as a brighter than average star; much closer they could see an Imperial-class Star Destroyer quickly approaching.

"Well, here we go," Mara said.

The average Imperial-II class Star Destroyer had a crew of over 37,000 men and enough armaments to, in and of itself, invade or destroy an entire planet. The dual purposes of battleship and carrier made the star destroyers among the most lethal war machines ever devised by the Empire, or the Republic before it. One did not just walk onto a star destroyer.

Mara knew this. She had been on more destroyers than she could remember. So it should not have come as any surprise that upon opening the hatch on her TIE, she was met by an entire squadron of storm troopers with their blaster rifles pointed directly at her head.

"Dismount your ship and stand at attention, pilot," a young lieutenant standing beside the stormtroopers ordered. Mara slowly dismounted and snapped to attention.

"Remove your flight helmet."

She complied, and hid a grin at the officer's shocked expression. Female pilots were few and far between. "Name and designation?"

"Lieutenant Arica Mar, Designation CO-8555-435-23322A."

"Your ship has been reconfigured. Explain?"

"Scouting mission, sir! My navigator is inside awaiting orders."

"Then get him out here!"

Luke climbed out, also in a flight helmet, and slowly climbed down the ladder to stand beside Mara. "Navigator First Class Lars Jansen, CE-8555-434-89147A, reporting as ordered, sir!"

"Come with me, now," the lieutenant ordered.

Mara and Luke fell in behind him, striding down the standard imperial halls. Both hid their sense of shock when they saw the bulky metal armor and staves of Ori troopers walking side-by-side with Imperial stormtroopers in the hallways.

"Enter this room for debriefing," the lieutenant said. "Failure to cooperate will result in your immediate execution."

"Understood, sir!" Mara said, snapping a stiff salute.

They entered the small room and then turned as the door slid shut and locked behind them. Both could sense they were under observation, and so knew to stay under cover, talking about how it had been two days since they had bathed, and how much they looked forward to rejoining the fight.

A little later, a man with thinning hair wearing a primitive woven robe stepped into the room and motioned the two to sit. He appeared to be in his fifties, and looked as human as either of them. "Hallowed are the Ori," he intoned.

"Hallowed are the Ori," Luke and Mara both responded quickly.

"Tell me about the _Courageous_." the man said without any further preamble.

They told their agreed upon story, most of it true. Three Alliance capital ships had stumbled by accident onto the Ori-loyal vessel in the Cho'orti System and when the _Courageous_ refused to acknowledge friend or foe signals, the ships engaged. The Alliance was victorious.

"We were testing a modification of the TIE Avenger as an advanced scout ship when the battle happened. We engaged as many of the enemy as possible, but when our capital ship was destroyed, I made the command decision to return to the nearest Imperial beacon," Mara finished.

"What was the _Courageous_ doing at Cho'orti?"

"I do not know, sir," Mara said before Luke could make a guess. "We were not told the overall mission priorities, only our immediate assignment."

"As it should be," the man said with a nod. "And you and your navigator have found the Path of Origin?"

"We have only begun to walk it," Luke said suddenly. "We know it is the only true path to Ascension, and that we must serve and worship the Ori, but I still know so little. Are you the teacher for this ship?"

Mara tried to hide her shock at how smooth Luke's lies were, but the man nodded with an appreciative smile on his face. "Indeed I am. The Priors of the Ori are few, and their tasks many. I have been given the great honor of leading the faithful on this great vessel, and I would be glad to show you the light."

"And could you also tell me what the great and mighty Ori plan to do in this system?"

Mara did not dare breathe. The Force was laced subtly through Luke's voice, enticing rather than compelling an answer.

The man blinked. "Why, they wish to harness the Holy Station in order to crush the unbelievers. And they soon shall. The Priors have already begun unlocking the secrets the Ori themselves built into the Holy Station, and in time, our enemies will be crushed!"

"And how many ships have the Holy Ori gathered in this system?"

"We have gathered fifty of the powerful Prior Ships, and another hundred Ori attack craft, in addition to Lord Jerec's entire fleet and the remnant Coruscant fleet. We have over ten thousand ships, enough to destroy our enemies even if they should bring the full force of their might against us."

With apparent fervor, Luke said: "Hallowed are the Ori!"

"Hallowed are the Ori," the man said with a beatific smile. He blinked, and sat back in his chair. "So, my young friends, tell me about the _Courageous_." The rest of the conversation proceeded as if the man had no memory of Luke's questions. In fact, he spoke solely to Mara as the ranking officer and seemed to forget Luke entirely. In time, completely satisfied that they were loyal members of the Ori forces, the two were released pending reassignment.

"Ten thousand is a lot more than our sources thought," Luke said as they stepped into the halls.

"Any chance he was lying?"

"None. He personally saw the assembled fleet as it was deployed—it was in his mind."

"So what do we do now?"

"We need to get to this 'Holy Station' and find out what they're trying to do with it."

"There's an interdiction field up through the whole system. It would take weeks at sublight to make it to Centerpoint."

"Not on an Ori vessel."

Mara stared. "You're not serious."

"We've studied their vessels and they use a different form of hyperdrive than we do. Much more powerful, must faster, and completely unaffected by gravitational distortion."

"And how do we get an Ori ship?"

"By duty rotation, of course."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Mara did not know how Luke was able to do it, but both of them were up for the next tour of duty on the Prior attack ship.

In their crisp imperial uniforms, they and a group of twenty other technicians were ordered to gather in an otherwise empty loading bay. Rather than meet a shuttle, Luke and Mara saw a bright flash of white light, followed by a ringing in their ears and a wave of nausea both fought down, and suddenly they were standing somewhere else.

And a prior stood just two meters away.

Mara fought an urge to panic, and instead hid her presence in the force using a Sith technique Anakin had taught her. Luke, having learned the same lesson did the same. Even to a Force adept, they appeared as ordinary people to the Force. They could only pray the technique worked on the priors.

"Hallowed are the Ori," the prior intoned.

The imperials responded in kind.

"The Ori give you their blessings for your devoted service to the Path of Origin. Be welcome on this craft, and be light of heart as you walk the path to glory." The prior nodded, turned and left the small, dimly lit room. In his stead was a thin man with wispy hair and pock-marked face. "Technicians and communications teams are with me. Pilots are to report to the docking bay for debrief."

By pilots, he meant Luke and Mara. As the rest if the imperials left, the two found themselves wondering the halls alone. They walked slowly as around them the halls seemed to echo with their footsteps.

"Not many people," Mara noted.

"No." Luke shook his head. "I need to remember not to use the Force. It's so tempting to reach out and sense the number of people on board."

After a few minutes of wondering, they ran across a soldier in the Ori armor with stave and asked for directions. The soldier smiled. "Of course, brothers," he said with what seemed like odd cheer. "Come, I'll take you."

And he did just that, leading them through the bowels of the ship until they reached the docking bay.

They were expecting TIE fighters. Instead, they saw row after row of large, coffin-shaped white craft unlike anything they had encountered in combat before. "Good luck, brothers," he said, obviously using the term in a broad sense. "Hallowed are the Ori."

Luke and Mara responded in kind, and then returned their attention to the ships. Afraid to speak lest they be overhead, they wandered slowly down the central aisle between the strange ships. Like the Ori destroyers that killed the Death Star, there were no visible weapons ports of any kind.

"Welcome, brothers!" a booming voice said from behind.

Both turned and saw a large man with thinning hair and a large stomach. "And a sister, as well," he said with obvious surprise. "I forget the brethren of this galaxy occasionally allow their women to fight."

Mara bristled and for a moment Luke feared for the other man's life. Instead, Jade snapped to attention. "Reporting for duty as ordered!"

"Very good, captain," the man said. "My name is Ronas. I have been tasked with training the brethren of this galaxy to fly the fighters. Few of the Ori's followers have the hand-eye coordination required for such a task."

"Yes, sir!" Mara snapped, still in military posture.

"Relax, Arica. And you must be Lars. We are here to learn and accept the path of Origin; all other things are mere formality. Now, come and I will show you the secrets of the fighters."

Despite their situation and the risk of imminent capture and death, Luke and Mara could not help but be fascinated by the ship. The technology of the Ori was the most advanced either of them had ever seen. The tiny craft had no visible means of propulsion, but rather zipped through space using some form of wave energy. Its inertial dampeners were so powerful the ship could accelerate faster than even an A-wing with not adverse affects to the pilots. Although its weapons arrays were invisible during flight, the craft had two pods that opened and fired a compressed burst of charged particles that pierced any known shielding or armor, just as the staves and the main weapons of the larger ships.

In all, it was a superior fighter to anything the Alliance could put in space. A single shot could take out even a fully shielded Y-wing fighter.

"Are there many pilots trained to fly this ships?" Luke asked.

"Sadly, no, or else our enemies would have been destroyed in greater number. You are but the first in a large number. In time, the ships of this galaxy will be abandoned and the gifts of the Ori will reduce the disbelievers to ashes. Even now, new ships are being built."

"Joyous news," Luke said with false fervor. "The power of the Ori is incredible. I've never seen such an awesome ship."

The back hatch swung shut as they lifted off. "And now you will show me your mastery of this ship, Lars. Take her out."

The controls of the craft operated on a level of symbiosis unlike anything Luke had ever encountered. He thought of what he needed, and the display appeared in the air before his eyes. His hands moved intuitively over the control panel, and with a minimum of effort or even thought, the tiny ship zoomed outside the field containing the air in the bay, and they were in free space.

"You are a talented pilot, I can see that already," Ronas said. He turned to Mara. "Do you have similar skill, young lady?"

"I'm twice the pilot he is."

Ronas laughed. "Perhaps. But this is the legendary Luke Skywalker, is it not? How could anyone be a greater pilot than the hero of the Battle of Yavin?"

Luke turned and stared while Mara's hand dipped toward a blaster that of course was not there.

"As I said before, relax," Ronas said. "My real name is Rond Olarin, formerly with CorSec. I was hoping they would get somebody in, but I wasn't expecting you. That was dangerous, to be honest. Your face, Mr. Skywalker, is somewhat well known amongst the Imperials."

"Couldn't be helped," Luke said. "Mara here didn't like our first choice."

Olarin turned to Mara. "I'm afraid I haven't heard about you. Oh well, we've been cut off from outside communication since the Ori arrived." He nodded to the controls. "These fighters are the only safe place to talk. The Priors can hear anything within the same atmosphere. And I mean that literally. They can be on the other side of the world and hear you whispering. But with a vacuum, for some reason, they can't hear a thing. And this particular fighter has no automated comm. unit. We can talk for a few minutes while you keep flying."

"Great," Mara said, suspicious but not yet ready to act on it. Trap or not, the man obviously knew who they were. "Are there really ten thousand ships?"

"Pretty close," Olarin said. "And they really are building new Ori ships. They've established shipyards on Drall and Selonia. They've enslaved both races to build them. Evidently, these Priors don't think much of non-humans. Like the Empire."

"And the interdiction field?" Luke asked.

"Centerpoint," Olarin confirmed. "They took it over the moment they took the system. In fact, they took it first, and then followed up with the planets. You know Corellia didn't do very well under the Empire. And with all the other more important systems falling, we knew we wouldn't get much in the way of help. So, CorSec ordered its agents and officers to go underground. We pay lip service to the Ori to prevent worse catastrophes from hitting the planet. But make no mistake, our people are suffering."

"The supreme commander described some of what is happening," Luke said.

"Supreme Commander? Last we heard, Darth Vader was running the Empire. Who's in charge now?"

Luke and Mara shared a look and realized he really had been cut off. They explained the current state of affairs in the galaxy at large. Olarin listened attentively. "So Vader's dead. And the Rebels essentially won. Hmmm, if only the Ori had come sooner. Still, that name, Anakin Skywalker. Any relation?"

"He's my father."

"Oh. And he's the Supreme Commander even though no one has seen or heard from him in twenty five years. Must be good to have inside contacts."

Luke heard the derision in the voice but chose to say nothing. Mara, on the other hand… "Luke was the hero of the Battle of Yavin, like you said. But Anakin Skywalker was the hero of the Clone Wars. Each earned their place."

"Of course," Olarin said, without further apology. "So, I take it you're both here to get to Centerpoint?"

"We have to drop the Interdiction Field somehow," Luke nodded.

"That's the place to do it," Olarin agreed. "I don't know how you'll do it, but that's the place."

"Does CorSec have assets in Centerpoint?"

"Of course," the spy said, managing to sound insulted at the idea of there not being assets.

"And will CorSec assist the Alliance?"

"That's a better question. If the Ori didn't have Centerpoint, would the Alliance have even bothered looking at Corellia?"

"General Solo has been drawing up plans to take back Corellia almost as soon as the Alliance was formed," Luke said. "I will admit Centerpoint made us move up the plan, but we would have attacked within twelve months no matter what."

Olarin snorted. "Yeah. Solo. A general. That's funny." He nodded to the controls. "We'd better head back. Jade, you wanna fly her back? After all, you're both going to have to be able to handle these things."

Luke and Mara exchanged places. Her hands moved with the same seeming familiarity as Luke's had. The controls were as perfectly laid out as either could imagine.

"So, will we receive CorSec support?" Luke pressed.

"Yeah, you'll get it. The contact's name on Centerpoint is Thracken. He's not CorSec; he was a former imperial. Not the nicest guy in the world. But he despises the Empire." Olarin thought a moment. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Better not mention 'General' Solo to him."

"Why's that?"

"He'd probably try and kill you. Those Solo cousins don't seem to get along very well."


	22. Chap 21: Dark Forces

Announcement: In order not to clutter the story, but because I genuinely love reviews and questions, I've opened up a forum for GOD&L. I've answered any questions in that form. Please feel free to keep the reviews and questions coming, and I'll be glad to get them answered in my forum.

Thank you all for reading!

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: Dark Forces**

Kyle Katarn was a practical man. As much as he cherished the idea of spending days alone with Mara Jade in a cramped fighter heading on a suicide mission, he knew it was not practical to protest her resounding rejection of him as her partner. Truthfully, he would have enjoyed it. He loved baiting her, and the angrier she got, the sexier she looked. The only problem was her tendency to violence. But even that could be made to work in her favor under certain circumstances. It almost made the pain of being beaten to within an inch of his life worth it.

Instead, he was going to spend days alone with two over-sexed children with lightsabers on the way to another suicidal mission.

"We're not over-sexed!" Ekria said, her eyes blazing with rage. Kyle felt a blush when he realized he had muttered the last thought aloud.

Jake Lo'Gann, her partner in crime and everything else, merely blushed and remained silent. Since joining the Galactic Alliance, the two Jedi had given up any pretence of classical Jedi forbearance and walked around the _Executor _often holding hands and beaming like hormone-induced idiots. Both were well into their thirties, having been teens when the Purge happened. From Kyle's perspective, they should have been over it by now. But under Ferris Olin, they had been forced to table what was obviously a deep, dependent love for each other. With that rule gone, they had been as exuberant as teens. It made Kyle realize that, in spite of the many adventures the two had been on, they and the rest of Olin's Jedi had remained somewhat sheltered from ordinary human interaction.

Now, with Luke's blessing, the need to hide their love was gone, and the two were just… "Can't you two keep your faces apart even for ten minutes? We're on our way to Coruscant and a trillion Ori followers, and you two can't keep your hands off each other."

"We grew up on Coruscant when it was filled with a trillion Imperials," Ekria snapped. "And the best time to do anything _fun_ is before we get there."

Kyle really couldn't argue the point. Instead, he said, "Then at least go someplace else to play smoochy-face."

"No time," Jake muttered. He pointed to the nav computer, which indicated they were coming up on Coruscant quickly.

"All right, prepare for the drop out of hyperspace," Kyle said.

Ekria lifted herself gracefully from Jake's lap and took the empty seat beside Kyle where Jan would ordinarily have sat.

Kyle tried his best not to think of Jan. Like himself, Jan was an agent of the Rebel Alliance and was on Coruscant trying to obtain tactical information regarding the second Death Star when it fell. As with all Ori-controlled worlds, the rebels lost all contact with her the moment Coruscant fell. And it fell with remarkable speed.

The blue tunnel of twisted hyperspace collapsed into the darkness of real space. Ahead of them, they could see the twinkling of an artificial constellation that was the night side of the former Imperial Center.

"Wow," Ekria whispered. Jake leaned forward from behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder as he too stared.

"There aren't enough lights," they both whispered.

Kyle had been to Coruscant, of course. As a stormtrooper he had even served there briefly and had returned while investigating the Dark Trooper project. And so, like the two Jedi who had lived their most of their lives, he recognized immediately that the planet-wide city was too dark. Coruscant had been the center of the galaxy politically, criminally and financially. The planet did not sleep, ever. And yet, coming in on the night-side of the planet, there were so few lights that it appeared as if the whole hemisphere was in fact asleep.

That was nothing compared to the thrumming in the Force. "The Force feels wounded," Ekria said.

Both the Jedi turned to Kyle. He was not that much older than either of them, but by Anakin's orders he was the commander of the mission based on his proven track record as an undercover operative. And as commander, he had a very bad feeling about landing on the former Imperial Center.

Suddenly the ship's sensors began picking things up—those things being ships and debris. Lots of debris.

"The orbital platforms are gone," Kyle said as he began studying the readings. "All of them. Weapons platforms, docks, shipyards. Command and control stations, all private structures. The orbital lifts are gone. It's been obliterated."

"Are there any ships?"

"A few Ori attack ships," he said. "None of those nasty little destroyers, though. Maybe a dozen ships all told."

"Any life readings?"

Kyle had already seen the number, but forced his eyes past it. Now, at Jake's prompting, he found his attention drawn back to the impossible figure. Although getting an accurate census of a planet with levels unseen by those at the top was impossible, Kyle had heard estimates of the planet's population as one trillion. He had even heard some estimates stating it was many times that number. The whole planet was not only a city, but a city built on top of ages of other cities that had gone before, resulting in a vertical ecology of races and species rising up almost as far from the surface of the planet as the atmosphere was from the top of the cityscape.

What the enhanced active sensors of his ship told him, however, was that there were currently only five billion humanoid sentients on the planet. Ekria, sensing Kyle's hesitation and uncertainty, leaned over until she too saw the report. "By the Force," she whispered. "That can't be right."

"The sensors may not be reading non-humanoid forms," Kyle told them both. "And there may be shielding going on."

The distant star breached the horizon of the planet, and as the light cascaded over the wounded surface of the planet, Kyle saw that the readings were not wrong. "Jan…" Her name was pulled from his lips as both curse and prayer.

The city of Coruscant had been decimated. More. Swathes of the city so massive in scope they could be seen as giant patches from orbit had been wiped bare. Hundreds of millions of hectares of land had been gouged into the city itself, down to the previously unseen surface of the city. And in each of those deep, impossible wounds, the three Jedi could see fields of green.

"An agrarian society," Kyle said, remembering something Vader had put in one of his reports.

The two younger Jedi stared. "What are they doing?" they both demanded.

"The Ori are destroying the cityscape and creating farming communities," Kyle explained. He fought hard to keep the tremor out of his voice. Could Jan have been part of that 5 hundredths of a percent of the population that survived the purging?

"So what do we do, Commander?" Jake asked. "Do we go forward, or go back and report what we've seen?"

A good question. Their mission had been to scout Coruscant for an eventual mission to retake the planet and gather any support they could. Originally, that seemed a very reasonable excuse for Kyle to go looking for Jan. Coruscant was so large, it was possible to hide even under the nose of Palpatine himself, as proven by the continued existence of the two Jedi by his side.

But now the population they hoped to support them was gone, and the planet itself unrecognizable. Could Jan have survived such a depopulation? Kyle owed her a debt of gratitude that went beyond just love. It was Jan who enlisted him into the Alliance and told him who it was who had really murdered his father. It was Jan who had helped him overcome the rage that threatened to send him spiraling into self destruction after his father was murdered. The thought of Jan down there, suffering like everyone else under Ori domination, was terrible. The thought of her dead, though….

"Kyle?"

He turned, and something in his face made Ekria blink and back away. "Don't go down that road," she said very softly, as if reading his thoughts.

Kyle turned back to the planet. "Let's get out of here," he finally decided. There was nothing else for him to do, and to continue would needlessly endanger the others. Naturally, he thought cynically, the Ori attack ships would choose that very moment to notice them.

The Force screamed a warning that had him flipping the _Tyderium_ like a fighter in a barrel roll. They narrowly missed the beam of particles that shot past at near the speed of light. He pulled the nose of the shuttle up, only to see three more attack ships bearing down. In the center of each ship he could see a massive blue ball of some type of energy.

He opened up with the shuttle's blasters on the ball of energy, hoping to disrupt it.

The blaster bolts had no effect, other than to steady the shuttle long enough for one of the other Ori ships to take another shot. The Force screamed a warning again, but even he was not fast enough to avoid the blast completely.

Ekria and Jake each cried out in shock as the shuttle was hit and thrown into a wild, turbulent roll toward the atmosphere. "Inertial dampeners are gone!" Kyle cried. He called on the Force to strengthen his arm as he reached for the stabilizers against the horrific G-force. Ekria, even in the shock of the roll, saw what he was doing and reached out to assist. He felt the Force flow from her to his arm, and grasped the strength needed to hit the stabilization override.

Stability jets fired as the computer took over the job of maintaining steady flight. The roll slowed, and then ended as the shuttle regained a semblance of control. "The starboard panel is gone," Kyle said. He looked at the two Jedi as the shuttle began skimming the atmosphere. Above them, the attack ships began sinking after them.

"You know," he said with a false smile, "I think we should go visit after all. My dad was a farmer, after all. It might be nice."

"Sounds like a plan," Jake muttered.

"They're firing again," Ekria pointed out.

Kyle juked the ship as best he could, sending all of them reeling. Without dampeners, every move the ship made had a drastic impact on those within. The whole ship began bucking violently as they bounced through the mesosphere of the planet. By the time they entered the stratosphere, the shuttle was shaking violently and the Ori ships were right on their tail.

"We're not going to make it," Kyle said. "Right stabilizer is gone, and we can't maintain flight with one panel gone."

"Kick in the repulsors," Jake said.

"And let the Ori take us out like sitting ducks?" Kyle snapped back. Then he spotted a flash of blue. "Either of you swim?"

They stared at him as if he were insane. "Where would two refugee Jedi learn to swim?"

"Then you better go back and grab the emergency vests," Kyle said. "I know where we're going to land."

Ekria followed his gaze through the sparking ports of the shuttle even as Jake unbuckled, pushed himself up, and ran to the back of the shuttle for the vests.

He managed to get back to his seat and get the vests passed out just as the nearest attack ship fired again. The port panel vaporized, and the shuttle suddenly began spinning again without even the possibility of control. "This is it!" Kyle shouted over the noise of the ship's death. "Everyone get ready!"

"What!?" Ekria and Jake both screamed.

Kyle closed his eyes and called the Force to him. The power of it filled him, and for a moment he closed out the noise, the Ori, the terrified Jedi; everything but his hand, his lightsaber, and the window in front of him. The Force guided, strengthened and steadied his hand as he lifted the saber and ignited it into the window. He slashed diagonally and then quickly traced the outline of the window. The transparisteel window began thumping against the force of pressure, until a third of the way through the cut, the main piece of the window broke free. Air rushed in with a deafening roar.

"Get out!" Kyle screamed. He unbuckled, ducked his head, and let the air pull him out even as Ekria and Jake both shouted in alarm.

The air shocked and rolled him. He kept his eyes closed and his head cradled in his arms, his knees tucked to his chin. He sensed more than saw Ekria and Jake follow him out of the shuttle. He felt the passage of the Ori attack ships, so close their passage sent him tumbling uncontrollably.

Finally, though, there was only the sound of the air ripping past him. The Force whispered an urgent reminder that even Jedi were not immune from gravity, but Kyle knew he had a few minutes to work with. He forced his eyes open against the harsh, shrill wind and let the Force guide his vision to two small specks above and to the right of him.

Below, the Western Sea grew large with alarming speed.

Kyle had never levitated himself. But he knew from Luke's example that if someone else could levitate him, he could levitate himself. So, he called the Force to him and pushed down.

The wind whipping by became slightly less intense, while the dots above approached with increasing speed. As they grew even closer, he let himself fall again. As he matched speeds with them, he saw that Ekria's fall was completely uncontrolled, and that Jake was desperately trying to reach for her.

"_Use the Force!"_ Kyle sent.

Jake made an obscene gesture, and then did as he was told. Ekria's descent shifted abruptly as she moved toward her lover. Then Kyle did the same thing to the two other Jedi until they formed a circle.

"Help me slow us down when I tell you!" Kyle shouted.

"Ekria's hurt!" Jake shouted back, clearly furious.

"She'll be dead if you don't help me!"

The water came closer and closer. Nearby, the report of the shuttle's explosion finally reached them. They could see the massive Ori attack ships circling the smoke and fireball before heading back to orbit. All, that is, except one. That lone craft turned and came back toward them.

"Ahh, Sithspit!" Kyle muttered, though the sound was lost to the wind. They were going to have to be very close to the water when they started their braking.

"Now?" Jake demanded.

Kyle shook his head and nodded toward the approaching ship. Jake understood and said nothing as they continued plummeting toward the water. Two thousand meters. One thousand meters. Five hundred meters. One hundred meters.

"Now, everything you have!" Kyle shouted. He pulled the Force and pushed down with everything he could summon. With their shared grip, he could feel Jake do the same, and was reminded briefly that Jake actually had more Jedi training than him. The other man's Force pull was strong, precise, and immediate. All three slowed rapidly from their terminal descent.

"We're going to make…" Kyle stared to say when they hit the water.


	23. Chap 22: Dark Forces II

Well, the stats on this story are interesting. Over 10,000 hits, with an average of 400 readers getting past chapter 3. 24 Alerts, 17 favorites, but only a few reviews for each chapter. Don't hold back. If you like it, please let me know. Even if you don't like it, let me know. That can be useful too!

Thanks for reading. D M

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**Chapter Twenty-Two: Dark Forces II**

"If she dies, you die too!" Jake Lo'Gann declared as he cradled the still unconscious Ekria in his arms.

The three of them had washed up on the shores of the Western Sea after nearly five hours in the cold water. On four separate occasions, they had to deflate their vests and sink under the water to avoid the searching Ori ships. Jake put his lips to Ekria's mouth and breathed for her each time.

Finally, the search appeared to have ended and the three of them were able to keep their vests inflated as they swam toward the coast.

The southern coast of the Western Sea was once a tourist destination. Although the sea itself was artificial, it had been ringed with spectacular beaches of either white, red or black sands taken from worlds around the empire. Those beaches had teemed with thousands, while overhead hovering restaurants catered to the needs of the Imperial elite.

Those restaurants floated no longer. One of the larger, in fact, lay crumpled into the beach a few hundred meters away from where they emerged from the water. As large as a frigate, the restaurant protruded from the ground like an obscene statute.

Jake did not even see it. He sat cross-legged with Ekria's head in his lap, openly weeping. "If she dies…"

"Yeah, I heard you," Kyle said. "It's one of the more stupid things I've heard you say, and that's saying something. She's got a concussion, that's all. And you laughed at Luke for not having enough Jedi training?"

Jake glared. "We've been through things you can't even imagine."

"You'd be surprised," Kyle snapped back. He stood and stretched his aching muscles. "We need to find some kind of transport. Those farmed sections aren't going to do us any good. We need to get into the underbelly of the city and see what's going on."

"And get her medical attention," Jake said.

Kyle shrugged, moved to kneel beside her, and then slapped her face.

"You bastard!" Jake screamed, even as Ekria coughed herself awake.

"Old fashioned medicine," Kyle said. "Sometimes the old ways are best. Now, let's get moving."

"I can see why Mara despises you," Jake said.

"Her loss. Come on."

When Ekria recovered enough to stand, the three of them walked along the beach until they found a path leading up the dike that ensured the water stayed put. As they reached the top, all three had to pause at the site before them.

The sky itself was a clear blue, littered with pure white clouds and the light of what looked like three suns. One, of course, was the Coruscant sun; the other two were the focusing mirrors used to maintain the livable atmosphere of a planet seven orbits away from its primary.

What really caught their eyes, though, was the canyon they found themselves standing before. Canyon was really the only way to describe it. They looked at a massive plain of green fields, surrounded on three sides by the towering spires of the city. In fact, in some cases it looked as if buildings had been cut in half in the shaping of the valley.

"Look at all the sublevels," Ekria said, struggling to regain focus. She clung still to Jake, who also stared in awe.

They could see every level of the planet-wide city as if on a dissection tray, for that was exactly what appeared to have happened. From the lofty upper levels, to the Old District below, to the levels that predated that, to what looked like rock but was actually just collapsed structures, all the way down to the actual rocky surface of the planet, everything the city was and had been was exposed to the sky for the first time in tens of thousands of years.

"These guys are powerful," Kyle muttered.

"They are evil," Jake said.

"Yeah, that happens a lot with the powerful part," Kyle said. "Well, nothing like the present. We walk until we find a transport."

They walked until they found a transport, a total of four hundred twenty eight steps. "Forty," Ekria corrected. "I have short steps."

Kyle stared. "You two were actually counting your steps?"

"It was something to do," Jake said with a shrug.

The transport was an old speeder that had been deposited on its side, possibly having fallen from the restaurant as it collapsed. However, with the help of the Force the three righted it and quickly took inventory. "The energy cells are intact and about half-charged," Jake reported.

"Two repulsors are out, but the other four work," Kyle said. "If we stack up on the driver's side it should balance out."

"Guess you'll have to sit in my lap," Jake said to Ekria. She grinned at him, then hit the start button. The speeder lifted off the ground with an angry rumble, but with the driver's side much higher.

"Won't be doing any podracing," Kyle said, "but it'll work. Pile in."

With three adults on the driver's side, the tilt became a little less severe. "We'll skirt the farm," he told them as he started the speed moving toward the nearest wall of the city canyon.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Centerpoint Station was big. Death Star big. Perhaps larger. A thousand kilometers long, the station dwarfed any other craft near it, even the two super destroyers that floated on either side of the station. The station itself occupied the Lagrange point of the two planets Talus and Tralus. As their ship approached, Luke and Mara joined Olarin and many of the others on the Ori ship in a front hold where they could clearly see the station as they approached.

Luke felt a thrill of fear staring at the ancient structure. It was one thing to read and talk about it, but quite another to see it. Already it took up the whole window, and they were still thousands of kilometers away from it.

He couldn't help but feel despair as he wondered how he could possibly hope to stop that station. The Death Star had seemed almost like a childhood game compared to the threat a super weapon in the hands of the Ori posed. Nothing short of a superlaser would stop it, and sadly the Alliance was in short supply of such weapons.

He felt something brush his hand. He turned and saw Mara looking at him, a question in her eyes. Neither dared use the Force, but even without he could see her asking if he was okay. The concern touched him more than he would have thought. He spared a smile and nodded slightly, before turning his attention to the station.

The Ori ship finally reached the Talus-side of the station and approached a cavernous bay large enough to hold an Imperial-class star destroyer. Although it held no such craft, it did teem with Ori attack ships and the smaller, yet more devastating destroyers.

Luke counted almost a hundred of the destroyers. A force that large could in and of itself destroy the entire Alliance fleet. Even so, those ships represented only a small part of the force arrayed there.

He wanted so badly to talk to Mara, to wonder aloud why the Ori had not sent out its full strength, but he dared not voice his thoughts. Even thinking the thoughts could be dangerous. He forced himself back to a state of calm and plastered a smile on his face.

"Hallowed are the Ori," he said softly.

The others heard and stared a moment. The converted imperials looked unsure what to do or say, but the human Ori servants in their armor and staves smiled gloriously. "Hallowed are the Ori!" they said in response.

The attack ship settled easily into a berth that could have housed five such ships and the new imperial crewmembers were escorted down a narrow gangplank running from a large platform that ringed the entire docking bay to the edge of the ship. Through the open bay door, Luke could see the night side hemisphere of the planet of Talus, its surface devoid of any lights.

The two were herded through to a tram that carried them for several kilometers into the central sphere of the station. The gravity shifted abruptly and the tram car spun on its rail until they were standing at a down angle heading toward the gravitational bottom of the space. Under this new orientation, they were a few kilometers from what looked like a conical mountain rising from the surface. The mountain projected outward toward the center of a sphere 300 kilometers in diameter . At the tip of the mountain burned a globe of glowing white energy. On the other side Luke could make out another mountain raising toward the same sphere.

"Amazing," he whispered. Closer to their level, they could see fields of grains and homes and an idyllic setting more suited to Naboo than the heart of a space station. "Do people live there?" he asked.

The nearest imperial shrugged. But the man behind him nodded. "Yes, brother. For the moment, anyway. Our Priors have told us that soon the faithful must abandon this place."

The speaker was another Ori human. Luke turned to Mara, who nodded imperceptibly, before turning back to his informant. "My name is Owen Lars."

"Elric Fondyn," the speaker said. He reached and took Luke's hand and wrist in a firm arm shake. "I heard you speak on the ship. Are you then a true believer?"

"It is difficult not to believe," Luke said. "The power of the Ori cannot be questioned."

"You are wise my friend." Elric looked at the imperials around them with open contempt. "It takes only a small step of faith and open eyes to see the glory of the Ori."

Except, Luke wanted to add, when a person had been indoctrinated and even raised not to believe in the existence of deities, as was the case for most Imperials. Palpatine's only religion was himself, and all who served under him served that religion.

"And you, sister?" Elric said, turning to Mara.

"The Ori are powerful," she said, slipping easily into an expression of awe. It astounded Luke, how completely different the woman standing beside him not only looked, but projected herself. "It is unimaginable that any could resist."

"Indeed, Sister," Elric said. "When your duties permit, seek me out and we will speak again. I would learn more about this galaxy." He nodded to them both with a genuine smile as the tram suddenly shifted, and they were heading "up" the other side of the sphere.

On the other side of the station, the tram finally glided to a stop and everyone got out. Teachers stood waiting for them, hands clasped and beatific smiles shining. "Welcome, brethren," the teachers all said in unison.

Luke and Mara stepped out with the rest and began looking for instructions when one of the teachers came to them. "I am Sonel. My friend Elric said the two of you have taken the path of Origin. You are our first pilots, correct?"

"Yes, Teacher," Luke said. Like Mara, he found it easy to slip into the role of a student and apprentice.

"What glorious news," the Teacher said. "Glory by to the Ori!"

"Glory be to the Ori," Luke and Mara intoned with heartfelt sincerity. Their Teacher positively beamed. "Welcome, then, my brethren. Walk with me, and I will show you your places. Tonight, you will dine with Elric and me. We have much to discuss."

Sonel showed them to their duty posts, which was another bay filled with row after row of fighters. And there, the two were surprised to find Ronas/Rond Olarin waiting for them with a grin. "Welcome, brethren!" he said. Be bowed deeply to the Teacher. "Hallowed are the Ori," the said to the Teacher.

Sonel bowed in turn. "Glory be to the Ori. You are Ronas?"

"I am, Teacher."

"Have you met our gifted brethren?"

"I have, Teacher. They are skilled pilots and will serve the glory of the Ori well."

"That is good. I leave them then in your hands to continue the training. The other new pilots will be ready to begin their training this day. Glory be to the Ori."

"Glory be," Ronas intoned, again bowing.

Sonel turned and left the way he came, leaving the three spies alone. Olarin said, "Come with me, my brethren."

He turned and led the way to the far side of the bay with Luke and Mara a step behind. Outside the bay, they entered a warren of narrow hallways and rooms that appeared suddenly without any sign of instrumentation or furnishings. The rooms were absolutely empty.

After perhaps a dozen such rooms, they finally came across one that was not empty. It contained a pair of rust-colored couches, a holonet terminal, walls covered in flimsiplast maps of both the station and the system as a whole, and Han Solo.

Luke felt his heart skip a beat. The man turned and looked at Luke, and only then did Luke see the differences. The skin of his jaw was pale compared to that of his face, hinting at a recently shaved face. He was heavier than Han, with thicker brows and a more belligerent set to his jaw, if that were possible.

"Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade, meet Thracken Sal-Solo."

The name made sense. The two men had to be related. But Luke remembered Olarin's warning and did not mention Thracken's resemblance to Han.

"Skywalker, huh?" Thracken said. His spoke with a slow drawl that managed to make almost everything he said sound like an insult. "When they care enough to send the very best, eh?"

"I was told CorSec would be assisting us."

"As much as we can," Sal-Solo said. "The bastards are here for a reason, that's for sure. But I don't think it's to use the place as a weapon."

"We were led to believe Centerpoint could destroy whole systems," Mara said.

Thracken's eyes widened in obvious surprise. "How the kriff do you know that?"

"We are Jedi," Luke said. The Force tingled a warning around this man; even without the Force Luke wouldn't have trusted him any further than he could have thrown him. Less, since he probably could have given the man a pretty good toss.

"Yeah, whatever," Sal-Solo said. "I've heard the same thing. It can create gravitational fields whole sectors away and move planets like toys. But I don't think that's what their doing. I think they're trying to do something a little more exotic."

"Like?"

Sal-Solo shrugged. "Dunno. I'm gonna find out though. And I'm going to need your help. We need to get into the glowpoint control nodule."

He pointed to a schematic of station. "It's directly underneath the north conical mountain. They control the glowpoint by adjusting the whole station's alignment with Talus and Tralus. And when the alignment changes, that glowpoint will fry Hollowtown."

Luke studied the schematics. "Can you get us in?"

"I can get you pretty kriffin' close," Sal-Solo said. "Then you're on your own. But, like you guys say, you're Jedi. No worries, eh?"

"No worries at all," Luke said.

"When do we go?" Mara demanded.

"The sooner the better," Olarin said. "Like I said, Skywalker, it's dangerous having you here. You should get what you need as soon as you can, and leave."

"That brings up an interesting question," Mara said. "How do we leave?"

"Are those fighters hyperspace enabled?" Luke asked.

Olarin nodded. "Sort of. They can make small jumps, maybe a couple of parsecs in a jump. It would be enough to get you outside the interdiction field, though."

"Good enough," Luke said. "All right, Thracken, let's go visit this nodule of yours."

With a fierce nod, Thracken pushed himself to his feet and started leading them through a maze of narrow halls, intersections and otherwise empty rooms. All the way, Luke's mind buzzed with an insistent warning that something was wrong. Mara must have felt it as well, since when he looked over his shoulder he saw her hand hovering over her lightsaber.

Still, as they moved through the station, nothing untoward happened. Finally, they reached a larger hall. A few people walked about on their various tasks and paid no attention to Thracken or those following him. Like many, Thracken was dressed as an imperial, with a captain's insignia.

They turned off the larger hall into a series of smaller ones, and eventually came to what Luke initially thought was a turbolift. When the doors opened, though, he saw it was nothing more than a closet.

"Get in," he said. "Except you, Rond. No point in risking any more assets."

"Right," Olarin said. He nodded to Luke and Mara. "Good luck."

They all climbed in and the door closed. Thracken grinned. "You're gonna kriffin' love this!" He touched a panel on the back wall, and suddenly there was a white flash of light. And nothing more.

"Love what?" Mara asked.

The doors opened, and they were not on the same level any more. "The Prior's teleportation device," Luke said. He had not felt a thing.

"Pretty nifty, huh? Turns out there are these little things all over the station, but no one has ever known what they were or how they operated. People used them for storage closets. One area even converted theirs to a fresher! Then the Priors came and suddenly everything started working again."

"So where are we?"

"We're where we need to be," Thracken said.

They stepped out of the transporter and turned a corner. Both immediately went for their lightsabers. They never got the chance to light them, however.


	24. Chap 23: Coup D'Etat

Thanks for the reviews! It's the fuel for the fanfic writer. Reagan, Yoda1976, RngrThorne and Lady, thank you all for your kind comments. I know it was a bit slow to get started, but I'm glad you got through. I promise it does not slow down again. Well, okay, there are a few breather scenes, like the one in this chapter, but hopefully they won't be too boring!

Thank you all again for reading. Enjoy! D M

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****Chapter Twenty-Three: Coup d'État**

Han Solo sat in the office of Leia Organa Skywalker, Provisional President of the Galactic Alliance, and watched the constant stream of people that came and went. They finally had to leave the _Executor_ a few weeks earlier and converted one of Ackbar's Mon Calamari cruisers into a floating capital. It was agreed by all that having a planet-bound government was just too dangerous. Soldiers moved out to be replaced by bureaucrats, tactical displays changed to holonet feeds. One entire deck had been given wholesale to the galactic newsfeeds to warn of encroaching Ori threats or to receive information about such threats.

Madine had taken over Alliance Intelligence and had it stationed on board the ship as well, though he frequently moved back and forth between the cruiser and the _Executor_.

It was the most chaotic thing Han had ever seen, and the woman he loved more than anything seemed completely caught up in the maelstrom. She looked very tired.

He knew for a fact that the princess was going on less than six hours of sleep over the course of the last three days. He knew that she was sucking down mugs of caf like the _Falcon_ sucked fuel. And he knew that if she didn't take a break, she was going to break.

And he knew she would not listen to him, because she had already told him she couldn't take a break and she would try to eat lunch with him later. That was three hours ago. It was now approaching dinner time.

General Solo stood up and walked out of her office while one of her many aides and ministers was giving her a report on the refugee crisis. She did not even see him go.

He still had the ring in his pocket. He had been carrying it every day since he and Luke talked. And every day, the opportunity to ask for her hand in marriage seemed to slip further and further away.

By the time he got back to the _Executor_ he had a message on his comm that the Supreme Commander had requested his presence.

Han took a big breath to brace himself. He didn't care what anyone said, it was still Darth Vader running the show. The fact that he had lost the mask and was the father of the girl Han wanted to marry just made the idea of marriage that much more unattainable.

He went to the command bridge, but was told the commander had retired to his personal quarters and that Han was to report to him there. When the general arrived, the doors opened without a second's wait. With a surreptitious look around, Han stepped inside.

The hyperbaric chamber was gone. In its place was an unadorned bed with neatly made sheets an odd color of brown, almost like a classical Jedi's robes. Anakin himself sat on a nearby sofa of black nerf leather, reading a holopad and drinking what smelled like tea.

"General," he said without looking up. "Please join me. Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you, sir," Han said as he sat down on the sofa opposite the supreme commander of the Galactic Alliance.

Anakin took a deep drink and closed his eyes. "You have no idea what a pleasure it is to drink tea," he said. "I never appreciated it as a youth, and never had a chance as Vader. Now…" He shook his head and studied his guest. "Before he left, Luke told me you had bought a gift for my daughter."

The box in Han's pocket somehow wriggled free and flew across to Anakin's outstretched hand. "I have been told that the Alderaanian custom was to ask the Father before proposing," he said, his face unreadable. "On Naboo, it was the mother. Not that I followed that tradition with my wife." He opened the ring and looked at it a moment, before looking up at Han. Without his armor, Anakin looked like any other fit man in his forties. Perhaps better looking than most. He gave Han an appraising stare. "This is a very nice ring."

"Yeah, thought so too."

"You haven't given it to her?"

"Haven't had the chance. She's been too busy."

Anakin stood up and walked the ring back to Han, then continued walking around the spacious but sparsely furnished room. Han remained seated, but turned to watch the commander. "You're working her too hard," Han finally said. "She's going to break. Leia doesn't bend, you see. She's like durasteel. Sometimes you can melt her. But never just bend. If she gets too stressed, she'll just break."

Anakin said nothing. He did stop his pacing and looked at his bed, with his hands behind his back. He wore a black admiral's uniform, but with a gold star cluster at his collar to reflect his rank. He was, even to Han Solo, a dashing figure.

"I noticed her strength when I tortured her," Anakin said at last. He turned and saw Han's expression. "It would be insulting to both of you to try and deny that part of my past, General Solo," he said. "I realize that I tortured you both at different times. And I am sorry for the pain I caused you. But I speak of it because the Force was with her even then. She did not bend. And she did not break. She is stronger than durasteel."

"Yeah, maybe."

"But she is not happy."

Han opened his mouth, and then closed it. "No?"

Anakin shook his head and started pacing. "She doesn't confide in me, Solo, and I could never expect her to. But I can sense her misery. She had no idea what it meant to be a head of state. And unfortunately, for all her skills of administration and diplomacy, she is far less skilled at delegation. And she is young. Even I forget sometimes just how young she is."

Han fingered the ring box. "So what do you suggest?"

Anakin kept pacing. "I have no right to play the role of father," he finally said. He spoke slowly, as if it hurt to push the words out. "And yet I want her to be happy. As much as it pains me to say it, I believe she could achieve that happiness with you." He stopped and looked up at Solo. "You need to marry her, Han. You need to marry my daughter, for her sake as much as yours."

Darth Vader indeed. Han stood up and moved until he stood in front of the man who had haunted his nightmares since Bespin. "I hated you more than anyone else in my life, and that's saying something. And now I'm going to be your son-in-law."

"And the father of my grandchildren," Anakin said.

Han's eyes widened. "Uhh, one step at a time, alright? First step is getting her away from that damned desk long enough to even bother asking her. I've been trying to get her attention for two days."

"Then, General, it may be time for the Jedi to exert their will on the Alliance."

"Whaa?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a real occasion when the Supreme Commander came aboard _Alliance One_, as the floating governmental center had been named. It was more so when he came accompanied by four Jedi knights. Walking in a V-shape on either side, resplendent in their brown and white Jedi robes, came Tallisibeth Olana Chion, Darana and Cilghal. All wore their lightsabers, and with Anakin at their lead, they formed a wedge that sliced through the startled crowds of bureaucrats.

Some bureaucrats refused to move. Anakin knew it was their job to stop people from seeing the president. In fact, he even recognized the need. And so when he used the Force to lift them out of his way, he did so without causing any permanent harm.

Still, there were yelps of surprise and fear as men, women and sentients of all descriptions found themselves unceremoniously deposited out of the way of the determined band of Jedi.

Finally, the band came to the closed doors of the president's office and the two sentries standing at attention. The two men, former Rebel Alliance special forces commandoes, stared at each other, and then at Anakin.

"Are you going to let us in nicely, or will I have to move you?" Anakin said. He wore a faint grin that confused the men. Neither could tell if it was a threat or not. But their jobs were to guard the president, and they were not going to risk being too casual, not even with the supreme commander.

"The president is in executive session and we cannot allow you to enter at this time, commander," the leader of the two said.

Just then Han stepped out from the Jedi. "I think we might be able to solve this without resorting to any drastic measures," he told the Jedi. Anakin said nothing, but continued to grin. The bureaucrats and aides watched in fascination and fear as Han walked with both hands up and talked to the ranking sentry.

The sentry nodded briefly, then looked startled, and then stared wide-eyed with an encroaching grin. "You Corellian pirate," the sentry said. Obviously, the man and Solo knew each other.

Han nodded, and then stepped back into the wedge of Jedi.

"Stand down, Lansen," the ranking sentry said.

The other entry stared from his commanding officer to Anakin Skywalker, and then back again. He nodded briefly, and the two sentries stepped aside.

Anakin flung the doors open with the Force. Inside, Leia was talking with a host of aides and two sector representatives when she looked up in alarm at the intrusion. "Commander, what is the meaning of this?"

"We are taking you hostage for the remainder of the day, Madame President," Anakin said. "Honored representatives and others, I must ask you to excuse us for the moment."

Facing five armed Jedi, the two representatives and the bevy of aides bowed and then scurried away.

"What the in the blazes is going on here?" Leia demanded, now genuinely upset.

Anakin grinned. "You will not be disturbed for the remainder of the day," he said. Then he turned and stepped back outside. The other Jedi followed, peeling away until only Han Solo remained. The doors closed behind him, leaving the two of them alone.

"Han?" The fear had faded, now replaced with uncertainty.

"This was your dad's idea," Han said. "Well, that part of it anyway." He walked across her spacious office, past her desk, and looked down at her. She was so perfect, it was only when he stood next to her that he realized how truly petite she was. And yet, she was one ofthe most powerful person in the galaxy. And he adored her.

"Tell me you love me," he said.

She blinked and looked around as if scanning for a recording device. "Is this a trick?"

"Tell me you love me," Han said again, softer.

She looked up at him and placed a hand on his chest. "I love you. I'm sorry I haven't had the time to…"

He put a finger gently on her lips, and with his other hand very carefully slipped a ring over her finger. She stared at it with wide eyes, as if unsure what it meant.

"Tell me you'll marry me," he said. He pleaded. He begged. He longed for her to say the words with every ounce of his being.

She stared at the beautiful Alderaanian diamond, as gorgeous as anything she had growing up as a princess. It was as beautiful a ring as any man could have found. And the man who gave it to her was as beautiful as any man she could have hoped to find. And yet there was so much work…

"And," Han whispered as he leaned toward her, "your dad's not letting you out of this room until you say yes."

She took a step back, her lips thinning. "You mean you planned this with my….Darth….Anakin?"

"Luke said to ask him. It was an Alderaanian thing. I wanted your father's permission. I wanted to do it right."

"You wanted…" She stopped speaking and stared at the thing, and was shocked to feel her eyes watering. "Han, it's beautiful."

"That's not an answer."

"Everything is so chaotic right now. There's so much that needs to be done. I just don't know…."

He pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her, and planted a kiss on her that seemed to pull the marrow from her bones and the strength from her spine. She melted into the feel of him. "I love you," he said. "I want to marry you. I conspired with Darth Vader himself to have a day alone with you. If I'll do that, do you think I'll take no for an answer?"

"I guess not."

"And?"

She rested her head against the broad expanse of his chest and let the tears come. So much pain, so much sorrow. Everything had happened so quickly, and was still happening. But there was one thing she could not deny. She loved Han Solo, and had risked her life to save him.

And now he wanted to save her.

Really, what other answer could she give? "No."

"What?"

"Just kidding."

"What?!?"

She laughed a free, joyous laugh she had not allowed herself in ages, and wrapped her fiancé in her arms. "I love you, Han Solo, and it would my great honor to be your wife."

"Kriff, you almost gave me a heart attack!" he said, and then he kissed her. "That was kinda funny, though."

"Yes it was."

"So, any ideas who's going to run the show on your honeymoon?"

"Mon, of course," she said. She leaned up on her toes and kissed him. "I wish Luke were here to see this."

"Yeah, I miss the kid too," Han said. "Wonder what he and Mara are up to?"

"Probably at each other's throats."

"Like this?" And then he was at her throat. And that was the last either of them thought about Luke or Mara.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Five priors and over a hundred Ori soldiers stood ready when the transport doors opened. Luke and Mara both went for their lightsabers, but with a tug of their staffs, the priors pulled both Jedi forcibly out of the transport cubes and onto the floor. Instantly a dozen staves were pointed at each of them, humming with the potential for death.

"Hallowed are the Ori," the center prior said. He looked up at Thracken. "For your service and devotion to the Ori, you and yours shall be treated with honor by the followers of the Ori."

Sal-Solo bowed from the waist. "Thank you, Holy One." The doors shut, and Thracken Sal-Solo left Luke and Mara to their fates.

_Do not fight them,_ Luke sent to her through the Force.

He pushed himself to his knees, only to be knocked back to his stomach by a staff of a prior. "You are not worthy to stand, Luke Skywalker," the prior said. "You were offered salvation through the Path of Origin. And yet you mocked the Ori and their blessings. You have offered great offense to the gods, and reparations must be made."

"Then just kill us and get it over with," Mara snarled.

"Kill you?" the prior said. He kneeled down before them, smiling broadly. "The Ori are not so merciful to unbelievers, Mara Jade. You were among the first to be warned that those who do not follow the Path of Origin must be destroyed. But there are many levels of destruction, as you both will soon learn. The Ori wish to speak to you directly. Soon, you will answer for your crimes to the gods themselves."


	25. Chap 24: Dark Forces Ascendent

Author's Note: All review responses can be found in my forum for Gods of Dark and Light. (Although, I did mislabel it as being for Chapter 24 when the responses were really for Chap 23. I couldn't figure out how to edit the dang thing.) Thanks for reeading!

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**Chapter Twenty Four: Dark Forces Ascendant**

Ekria cried.

Ferus Olin drilled into those Jedi who joined him that fear and sorrow led to the dark side. "You must learn to let go what you fear to lose," was a favorite line of his. Evidently, it was a line Anakin was also familiar with, since when he heard Ferus mention it to Mara, the Supreme Commander snorted.

Still, when the listing speeder hovered into the city, the shock of seeing her home world's condition brought unabashed tears to her eyes. It was not even a matter of fearing loss but rather the undeniable truth behind the raping of a world. It was, in its own way, worse than what had befallen Alderaan. At least there death was quick and relatively painless.

Here, the Force thrummed with the pain of billions of lingering deaths. And it was not the Force alone that made her feel anguish. She could see evidence piled in massive, blackened mounds; bodies piled on bodies dozens of meters high, charred and in some cases still smoking from the funeral pyres. The smell of charred meat soiled the air.

For the pain and suffering she could not shut out, Ekria, Jedi knight, wept, and in time buried her face in the shoulder of her lover. Jake, for his part, set his jaw in a firm line of righteous anger even as he gently caressed Ekria's back.

Kyle's anger was less righteous, and more vocal. "Kriffing sons of gundarks," he kept muttering over and over. He had never felt such overwhelming rage.

"So what are we going to do?" Jake said as they finally managed to gain enough altitude to enter the old city. Even in the upper levels previously reserved for the elite, the city had suffered. Businesses were dark, maglev trains hung dangling and useless. The public thoroughfares were completely abandoned. Over the wind of their passage, Lo'gann sounded subdued.

"We're going to get off this blasted planet," Kyle said. "From what I understand, Coruscant fell so fast and so hard, there wasn't time for any civilians to evacuate. So there has to be a few space-worthy ships around here somewhere."

"Any ideas where to find them?"

"Not at the moment. I'm sure something will come to me, though."

Something came to them, all right, but it was not an idea. Rather, it was a strike of white light flashing directly through the front of the speeder. "Stave blast!" Kyle shouted. "We're losing drive systems."

The speeder began to slow and descend at an increasingly alarming angle. "Kyle?" Ekria said.

"Yeah, what?"

"Think you can pick a different spot to crash?"

He looked up from the frozen controls to the platform they were heading for. This platform was anything but deserted, with what appeared to be close to fifty Ori soldiers waiting with staves at the ready. Try as he might, Kyle could not spot any priors."Well, we could try skydiving again," he said.

"That was a joke, right?" Jake demanded.

"Any other bright ideas?" Kyle asked.

"We crash into them," Ekria said. "And I mean crash. Give the engines everything they've got, and we jump out at the last minute."

"That ranks right up there with skydiving," Jake said.

"Yeah, but less distance to fall," Kyle said. He pushed the throttle to the max and ignored the oily smoke that began pouring out of the stave blast hole in the center of their engine. "Brace yourselves."

The soldiers waited patiently for the vehicle to come in range, and began firing.

There was a joke among the Rebellion that stormtroopers only hit their mark when they weren't trying. It wasn't really fair, of course. Having been a stormtrooper, Kyle knew how ridiculously difficult it was to aim a Blas Tech E11 blaster rifle in a full suit of body armor. Still, having been shot at on more than one occasion, Kyle often wondered how the troopers could call themselves marksmen when every shot missed.

The soldiers of the Ori did not wear full body armor and did not shield their faces. Their weapons were man-high staves they fired like rifles, either from the waist, or in some cases from the shoulder like a sniper rifle. And these soldiers truly were marksmen.

The five soldiers who fired hit the speeder head-on from twenty meters away. Their staves produced a sustained beam that sliced all the way through the length of the vehicle, nearly taking legs and arms with it. "We're going to have to jump," Kyle shouted.

His danger sense screamed in warning as the five soldiers began sweeping their weapons outward from the center axis of the vehicle. With the beam so close it made the skin under his boots blister, Kyle leapt into the air, with Jake and Ekria not even a second behind. The Force guided their paths even as the speeder below them literally fell apart. Momentum carried some of it forward, but only to crash into the safety barrier of the platform. The rest of the pieces simply fell into the bottomless maw of the lower regions.

The three Jedi had more than enough momentum to carry them forward and they landed easily on the platform, surrounded by fifty pointing staves. They rolled to absorb the impact and then came up in a fighting stance, their sabers lit and ready.

"Submit to the Ori, and you will not have to perish," one of the soldiers said in thickly accented Basic, as if he had learned the sounds without the meaning.

"Kiss my backside, and I won't have to cut your head off," Kyle said. He lifted a hand and pushed with the Force.

These soldiers were not priors, and without the power of the Ori's shepherds, were no more powerful than any other human. The soldier's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as Kyle's power threw him back into his comrades.

"All of us, at once," Kyle said. "Push them over the edge!"

Some of the soldiers shouted their extreme displeasure at this idea and turned their staves to fire, only to be flattened by the combined Force push of three Jedi. The three of them advanced, pushing again and again, until with the first scream a man fell over the edge.

"Kyle, we're committing murder!" Ekria said.

"Naw, this is murder," Kyle said, lifting one man in particular and throwing him over the balcony with what looked very much like Darth Vader's infamous Force choke. "What we're doing now is dealing with the enemy."

She stopped. "We can't do this. This is the Dark Side."

The soldiers reached for their staves. "Then at least disarm them!" he screamed.

This, Ekria at least seemed to have no trouble with. She began force-pulling staves away from the soldiers' hands while Kyle and Jake continued to push. Jake, evidently, had no trouble with killing men whose very religion made it imperative to kill them.

Finally, only a small group of unarmed men remained cowering against the rails. Kyle approached them, his saber lit. It was Ekria who stepped in front of him. "Jedi do not kill unarmed prisoners."

"I'm not feeling like a Jedi today," Kyle said. "Get out of the way."

"I will not let you murder them."

"You gonna stop me?"

"Both of us will," Jake said from behind Kyle.

Kyle turned and glared. "These people want to kill us," he snapped angrily. "They think they have to kill us to appease their gods. And you seriously want to leave them here to try and kill us again later?"

"They're not a threat now," Jake said. "Force pushing a large troop still armed is one thing. These men aren't armed. And they are terrified of you."

Kyle turned and stared death at the men. "They should be. These are the bastards that killed Jan!"

"What good will vengeance do?" Ekria said. "I know you are looking for your friend. Would she want you to kill them?"

"Actually, yeah, she probably would."

"Well, that didn't work," Jake muttered. He sensed though that the danger had passed for the moment. He walked by Kyle and knelt before the humans. "Do you understand me?"

The man stuttered something in an utterly alien language. "He's from another galaxy," Kyle muttered. "You honestly think he knows Basic?"

"One of them did. Doesn't matter, though. One way or another, he'll speak it shortly," Jake said. He put both hands on the man's head, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The man's eyes rolled back into his skull as he screamed. The other men whimpered in open terror.

When Jake let go and stepped back, the Ori soldier gasped and fell to his hands and knees. "What have you done to me?" he demanded in clear Basic.

Kyle stared. "Old trick I learned," Jake said. "I know his language now too."

Kyle shouldered past the two other Jedi and grabbed the man in a Force-enhanced grip. "Where are the Coruscanti survivors?"

The man gaped and then stuttered. "They're in containment shelters until the Priors and teachers can re-educate them."

"And where are these shelters?"

"All around us," the soldier said. "We're standing on one. All the apartments were converted. And those that have the approval of the priors are allowed to go free to the new farmlands being created for them. Soon, this horrid world will be a paradise."

It was too much. To Ekria's horror and Jake's disgust, Kyle roared in rage and threw the man physically off the edge of the platform. Before the other two Jedi could stop him, he spun and thrust out with an incredibly powerful Force push that sent the survivors also tumbling over the edge of the platform to their deaths.

It was only when he turned and saw the expressions of disgust and contempt on the faces of his fellow Jedi that Kyle fully realized what he had done. "Sithspit," he whispered.

And it was at that moment that a red lightsaber blade erupted from the center of Jake Lo'Gann's chest. Ekria at first didn't understand what the arch of his back and the grimace of agony on his face meant, but the uncertainty only lasted long enough for her to draw breath for a scream as her lover died.

A booted foot kicked the dead Jedi down to the floor. The owner of the boot smiled. "Another dead Jedi," the newcomer whispered. Ekria responded instantly with a subvocal growl as she lit her sword and charged. The dark Jedi, lean and beautiful with a head of golden hair and a cruel turn to her red lips, laughed and caught Ekria in a Force grip. She spun about on her toe in a perfect pirouette and in the fastest part of her spin let go of the hold she had over Ekria.

"No!" Kyle screamed, shocked out of his paralysis by Ekria's scream as she flew over the edge of the parapet. She reached for him, a look of terror on her face, as she fell into the dark maw of the dead city.

Kyle turned back to the woman, his rage boiling. From behind the Dark Jedi another figure appeared. He wore the white robes of an Ori prior, but had neither the complexion nor milky eyes of one. In fact, he had no eyes at all, and wore a black band around his head where his eyes should have been.

"Very nicely done," this newcomer said. His voice was high-pitched and oily. "You must be Katarn."

"And you must be Jerec," Kyle said, the rage still burning in his mind.

"I like a man who can murder in cold blood," Jerec said. "Slaughtering unarmed prisoners is…" he grinned, "…simply delicious. That is the kind of determination I like in my Dark Jedi. Just think what an asset you would be."

"Dark Jedi?" Kyle snorted. "You're not Dark Jedi. You're Ori lapdogs."

"Lapdogs with power, though," Jerec said. "Jun!"

A young man barely out of his twenties stepped to Jerec's side. He looked first at the dark Jedi's leader, then to the blonde as if seeking her approval, then at Kyle. "Kill Katarn," Jerec commanded.

"Gladly," the boy said, grinning. It was the oddest thing. Kyle did not sense the Dark Side in Jun, only an intense desire to meet with the woman's approval.

Jun laughed, raised both arms, and suddenly disappeared in a shimmer of Force power. Kyle remained still for a moment, and then quickly slashed his saber down to his left. The force cloak faded and Jun stood staring in shock at the long slash across his torso.

"I've had training from Ferus Olin and Darth Vader," Kyle said. "That little trick doesn't work any more." He flicked his wrist, and the dying dark Jedi flew backward off the platform.

"What do you think, Sariss?" Jerec said to the woman. "Is he a suitable candidate?"

Kyle saw a flash in the eyes of the woman named Sariss. Perhaps it was anger or grief. Perhaps it was nothing. As quickly as it came, however, the flash was gone and the gaze turned to one of intense scrutiny and calculation. "He has a great deal of potential. And he obviously has no fear of touching the Dark Side."

"Come a step closer and you'll feel just how much of the Dark Side I can touch," Kyle threatened.

Suddenly an irresistible force grabbed him and lifted him from the platform surface. He dropped his lightsaber and gasped for breath as the pressure around his chest increased. From around a hidden corner stepped a Prior, chalky white like all the others, and ancient looking. "This one will serve us well," the Prior said. "The darkness you speak of has taken hold of his heart, and made him subject to our will."

"Very good," Jerec said. "Sariss?"

"I will turn him, or dismember him."

"Welcome to the family, then, Katarn," Jerec said with a maddeningly high-pitched laugh.


	26. Chap 25: Luke and Mara, Sitting

Okay. 30 Alerts. Over 13,000 hits. Two reviews of last chapter. Hmmmm. Obviously I'm not responding to the reviews I do get right. I thought responding to reviews in my forum was a good idea, but I'm not sure now. So, please let me know the proper etiquette to respond to reviews, in the vain hope I might get a few.

With that, I present a shorter chapter of Luke and Mara fluff. Consider it the eye before the storm, 'cause bad things are a comin'.

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**Chapter Twenty Five:Luke and Mara, Sitting in a Room…**

_Luke and Mara, sitting in a room._

_Thinking thoughts of unrelenting gloom._

_Mara sang a happy song of doom,_

_While Luke…. _

Mara turned to look at Luke. "What's another word that rhymes with doom?"

"Tomb?"

"Ohh, that's a good one." She laughed. "_While Luke sat carving on their tomb_. What do you think?"

"Are you really trying to be funny?"

Mara shrugged. "If you can't laugh, it only leaves one option. And I'm not a crybaby like some spoiled little Jedi I know."

Luke slid back to the floor. His lower lip was black and split, and his left eye was nearly swollen shut from the beating he took. Mara was less beaten, but still bore a cut on her cheek where one of the soldiers hit her in the face with the butt of his stave.

The young Jedi pulled his knees up, rested his arms on them, and then let his head fall in a position of utter despair. "Well, I'll be dammed," she said.

"What?" he said, looking up.

"The great Luke Skywalker has given up."

"I haven't given up," Luke said, sounding petulant even in his own ears. "I just don't have any ideas yet, that's all." He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling of their tiny cell. It seemed odd they would be forced to share it, but then again, it seemed odd they weren't dead yet. Instead, they were merely disarmed, beaten, and thrown in this simple cell. Try as he might, he could not sense any eavesdropping devices. In fact, there were no electronic devices he could sense at all. The door was mechanical, and the switch was sufficiently far away and heavy that not even Luke thought he could open it. The walls were some form of impossibly dense stone, which itself seemed odd for a space station, even one a million years old.

"Tell me about your first girlfriend," Mara said suddenly.

"What?"

"You were a hero of the Rebel Alliance. You must have had girls crawling all over you. Tell me about the first one."

Luke's cheeks blushed a scarlet color. Mara's eyes widened, and she crawled quickly across the floor to make a great show of examining his cheeks. "Why, Master Skywalker, I do believe you're blushing! Don't tell me the Master Jedi is shy?"

"I'm not blushing!" he lied. "It's just not something a gentleman talks about."

"Good thing there aren't any around, then, huh? So, spill it. Was she pretty? Was she sweet? Did she open your eyes on just how good life could be? Did she break your heart?"

"I…"

"What? You what, Skywalker?"

Desperate to shift the conversation, Luke said: "Why don't you tell me about your first boyfriend?"

She leaned back and sat on her heels as she studied him. "A senator. About three times as old as I was. Sloppy kisser, so I had to kill him. I can't tell you how much I hate sloppy kissers."

Luke rolled his eyes. "What about your first real boyfriend, not a victim?"

"How about your first real girlfriend?" she countered.

A real girlfriend. The closest Luke ever got was Camie, and she wasn't even his girlfriend, despite his most adolescently fevered dreams and desires to the contrary. There were always looks from other women, and more than a couple of invitations, but it never seemed to be the right time. And there was always Leia. Her view of such women was dim at best. Plus, he admitted, he always felt the distant hope that Leia would be more than just a friend. Of course, now, he was grateful that never happened. And yet…

"I haven't had one," Luke finally confessed.

"What?" Mara reared back. "You mean Luke Skywalker hasn't had a real girlfriend? What, just one night stands to hold you over until something better comes along?"

Mara saw her answer in the angry flush of his face. She leaned forward again, almost on all fours, her face so close to his that he could smell her breath, and the faint whiff of perfume that was one of the few vanities she allowed herself. "Luke Skywalker, hero of Yavin, are you trying to tell me you're a virgin?"

For some reason, Luke had a hard time breathing. Her proximity made him dizzy, frightened and excited all at once. It was too much to bear, and so he again changed direction. "I can't believe you're acting like this in an Ori prison cell."

"How am I supposed to act?" Mara demanded, all hint of playfulness gone. She pushed herself to her feet. "Am I supposed to be nobly tragic? Was that what your princess sister was like on the Death Star? 'Oh woe is me, what will I do? When will my handsome prince come rescue me?'" She sounded exactly like Leia, and it disturbed Luke to no end. "Boy, that must have been a shock to find out your little princess was your sister. Hopefully she wasn't who you were holding out for!"

Now she had gone too far, in large part because she was so right. "That's enough!" Luke shouted as he thrust himself to his feet to stand mere centimeters from her face. "You do NOT get to talk about Leia like that, ever!"

"Yeah, and what are you going to do to stop…"

He kissed her. Hard. And she didn't push away this time, at least not at first. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him in with desperate strength. Only after both were breathing heavily through their noses did she push him away. And then she slapped him.

"Can't let you get any ideas," she whispered. And then, before he could understand exactly what had just happened, she pulled him back down into another desperate kiss.

After the longest time, they came up for air. "I am scared," she whispered in his ear. "We are going to die here, and there's nothing I can think of to stop it. So I'm going to tell you right now, while I can. You drive me crazy."

He stared, his blush blanching. "I…"

"You just make me crazy," she continued, placing a finger on his lips. "I am a trained assassin. I've never had a boyfriend or lover. I've never had anyone. It was my duty to kill you. But when I saw you face down Jabba, even then, I didn't want to. I didn't want to kill you, I wanted to BE you. I wanted to have that calm and that power and strength. But I can't be you, Luke. I'm not that person, and I never will be."

He tried to smile, and wouldn't you know it, the Jedi crybaby had tears in his eyes. "Mara, I don't want you to be me. I just want you to love me."

She stepped back from him. "I've never loved anyone. I usually kill anyone who gets close enough to try. You're lucky your dad's my master or you wouldn't have lived after that first kiss."

"Was it that bad?"

"It was terrifying," she admitted. She placed both arms on his shoulders and moved so close her lips brushed his as she spoke. "I realized that you broke every barrier I had without even trying. I realized that you could make me think and feel things I'd never dealt with, and didn't know how to deal with. I slapped you, Luke, because you scared the Sith out of me."

"So that means…"

"It means I'm not really any more experienced than you are," Mara admitted. "I played the part when I had to, but when it comes to love, I'm not…experienced."

They stopped speaking and their lips melted together. Her body pressed against his, and heat shot through his body. "I love you, Mara Jade," Luke whispered as he nibbled her ear. "From the moment you came aboard _Home One_ with my father, I loved you."

"I…" She nuzzled his neck. "This is really hard for me, Luke. But I do love you," she managed to force out. "But don't get mad if I don't go blathering it all over. Those are not easy words to say."

He looked at her, and yes, she saw he was crying. "Stupid over-emotional farmboys," she said, touching his tears. "Only now do you understand why you drive me crazy."

She curled up against his side, with his arm around her shoulder, hugging her close. "So much for the legend of Luke Skywalker," he muttered.

"What's that mean?"

"It means that after all the months fighting each other when we could have been together, we finally realize how perfect we are for each other right before the Ori kill us. It's pretty typical. Ben died right as I was ready to start my Jedi training. Yoda died right at the point in my training when I needed him most. And my aunt and uncle…" His voice choked up. "I don't think I ever told them how much they meant to me. As much as I hated it there, I look back and realize how lucky I was to grow up where I did."

Mara rested a hand on the broad expanse of his chest and listened to the beat of his heart. "At least you had a family."

"If we survive this," Luke said softly into her hair, "you will, too. You will have a sister and a father. You will have everything I have."

"Suddenly optimistic, are we?"

He gently lifted her chin until their eyes met. "You were worth waiting for, and you are worth fighting for. I haven't given up. And I never will, so long as there's a chance of having you in my life."

She leaned up and kissed him. "Now that's the Luke Skywalker I was waiting for."


	27. Chap 26: The Ghosts of Darth Vader

Well, I got four reviews, and I really appreciate them. Still unsure about proper etiquette for responding, but the Forum idea didn't seem to ignite any fires of excitement. So I'll just respond here until someone tells me not to, or if I received so many reviews I can't. That would be a good day.

So:

**Forge2**--I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and you may very well find out the answer to your second point.

**Jedi Master Sabbath**--I'm glad you like the fluff. I did stuff some of it here and there. It'll make the final battle that much more exciting (I hope).

**Tilius**--Thank you as always!

**Worker72**--Honestly, the Ori don't care what Luke and Mara do. They threw them in together because it was a "Jedi" proof holding room, no other reason. In their eyes, what they plan to do to Luke will take care of any problems the two could otherwise make. The Faleen are extinct--they chose not to walk the path of Origin.

**Master Chief Rulz**(Chap 24)--You just never know who might be showing up.

Thank you for the reviews, feel free to leave more!

Now here is Chapter Twenty-Six. This chapter also has a lot of fluff, but it also essential for the final battle to come. And yes, there will be a final battle and it will be BIG.

Thanks for reading! D-M

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**Chapter Twenty-Six: The Ghosts of Darth Vader**

"Ani?"

The voice whispering his name sounded soft, like audible shimmersilk caressing his mind with every sound. In his mind's eye, he saw _her_ face, the curtain of her dark hair draping around him like it did every time she leaned over to kiss him. He loved to run his fingers through that hair, just as surely as he loved to run his hands over her body.

"Ani."

He opened his eyes. It was not the face of his dreams, and yet it was beautiful nonetheless. Instead of a face pure in youth and beauty, he saw a face tested by years of hardship and struggle, but never overcome by it. Instead of lustrous brown hair, there was shoulder length hair the color of Ithorian fire berries. Instead of the mysterious darkness of her eyes, he saw eyes the purest shade of emerald. It was not his Padmé, and yet it was a face he had grown to cherish as well.

"Tallisibeth."

"'Bout time you woke up," she said. "Goodness. Give the man two hours off and he thinks he can actually take a nap."

He forced a smile and sat up. She sat beside him, her hand resting on his knee. It was about as intimate as either had been, despite the rumors circulating among the Jedi and admiralty otherwise. Both of them had been trained in the Old Order, and relationships were not their normal way of thinking. Plus, there was the undeniable truth of Anakin's past. The ghosts of all those Vader had killed walked by his side with every step, and Tallisibeth saw every one.

Nonetheless, she greeted him with a warm smile. "Are you well?"

"As well as can be. Any enemy activity?"

"None. They're obviously mustering their forces for something big."

"Anything from Luke or Kyle?"

Tallisibeth, once known as Scout, was clad in a practical black jumpsuit with a utility belt, rather than Jedi robes. Since Luke rarely wore traditional Jedi robes, the fashion sense of the new Jedi seemed more individualistic. She crawled to the other side of the bed and sat propped against the wall just as he was. "Nothing yet, and I have to admit I'm worried," she said. "I've meditated, but nothing comes to me."

It was not an uncommon confession. Both of them knew Tallisibeth's connection to the Force was not as strong as some, and that meditation rarely brought glimpses of anything other than immediate and local events.

Anakin, however… "I dreamed of dark forces conspiring against us," he admitted. "I fear for my son, Tallisibeth. I sense he is in great danger. And yet, I don't think I can save him. Not yet, at least. I don't know what to do." He laughed. "I wonder if this is how the old Council felt in the days before Palpatine turned me and destroyed the Republic. This feeling of dread that makes me know that something terrible is coming, and that I am powerless to stop it."

"Not entirely powerless," Tallisibeth said. "That's why I'm here. We have made contact with an Imperial remnant in the Maw led by an Admiral Daala. She just arrived and told me they have some interesting weapons."

"Daala?" Anakin sat up in surprise. "One of Tarkin's protégés? I've never met the woman. What is your impression of her?"

"Dedicated to the point of fanaticism," Tallisibeth said. "If not for the admiralty accepting the new alliance in whole, I have no doubt she would have attacked us. She only has four star destroyers, but the other items she has…"

"She was in the Maw facility," Anakin mused aloud. Slowly, he turned toward her, his eyes alight. "After I first turned, I visited with Tarkin where he was constructing a prototype for a new weapon."

"Daala confirmed it is still there. Or was." She hopped out of bed, took his hand, and let him to the nearest viewport. The fleet was in orbit over the planet Hassk IV, a relatively minor planet with a large agricultural base that was being tapped for supplies. Just rising over the far horizon, dwarfing the ring of star ships that surrounded the planet, Anakin could see it. It was a giant globe of durasteel framework, easily the size of a moon.

"By the stars," he whispered.

Unconsciously, his hand sought and found hers, and the two stood staring out the port together. "Is it functional?"

"Yes and no," Tallisibeth said. "The report from Admiral Daala indicated it had some major problems. For one, it's only about half as powerful as the Death Star beam. Secondly, it was not as efficient in its energy expenditures, so it takes hours to recharge. Plus, it was never calibrated. But the Death Star prototype is just the tip of the asteroid. Daala and her scientific advisers are waiting for us. We have our own people with her."

She turned to pull him toward the door, but he stood rooted in place, as if caught by the durasteel frame of death floating on the horizon of the unsuspecting world. "Anakin?"

He turned toward her, and for a moment Tallisibeth could hardly move. His eyes were suddenly bloodshot, and rimmed with moisture. "I stood on the bridge of a station like that and watched my daughter's world be destroyed as she cried. And I was proud of it!"

He turned from her back to space, his head bowed as he fought to rein in the many ghosts of his past. The ghosts reared and ran as he felt gentle hands on his shoulders, and soft lips on his cheeks. "Anakin Skywalker, don't let the ghosts of Darth Vader destroy you," she whispered. "You are a Jedi."

He turned and forced a wistful smile as he touched her cheek. "The Force should have sent demons to torture me. Instead I have an angel to nurture me."

"An angel who wants to get her hands on some very big guns," Tallisibeth said with a suddenly girlish grin. And then, for the first time since he found her on Ilum, Tallisibeth leaned up and kissed Anakin on the lips. "Now come on," she whispered.

Admiral Daala, when Anakin finally met her, was every bit as intense as Tallisibeth had said. She wore a severe expression and had what would have been beautifully lustrous red hair pulled back into a tight bun covered for the most part by her military cap. She stood stiff-backed and wore a uniform intentionally cut to hide her figure. She was every inch a high ranking woman in a traditionally male world.

Of course, that world had changed now. There were two women generals who came over from the rebel side of the Alliance, and one female admiral. Daala viewed these women with barely concealed suspicion and contempt.

With Daala came an Omwati female with brilliant blue skin and a crown of diaphanous feathers in the place where humans would have hair. She was strikingly beautiful and exotic, and was the center of attention.

"Surpreme Commander," Daala said in greeting when Anakin came in. The other generals and admirals snapped to attention, but Daala did not. Rather, she remained in her seat as an equal.

"Admiral," Anakin said with a nod. "For the record, Admiral Daala, the Galactic Empire, with the full consent of the admiralty and College of Moffs, joined the Galactic Alliance by treaty. According to those terms, all personnel of the Empire are summarily transferred as assets to the Alliance."

Daala's eyes flashed dangerously, but she got the hint. Ignoring the looks of the others present, Daala stood, snapped to attention, and saluted.

Anakin returned the salute and nodded. "Be seated, please. Admiral, I think the place to begin would be introductions. I, of course, am Anakin Skywalker, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance of Free Worlds. To my left is Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy, Jedi Knight, whom you have met. To my right is Grand Admiral Piett. And General Han Solo. You know the rest of my staff, from what I understand."

"Yes, Commander," Daala said. "I brought only one staff member for this briefing. This is Qwi Xux, our lead researcher on the Sun Crusher project. Since our standing orders of communications blackout was violated by a Prior ship, she has also been studying all information made available on the Ori vessels."

"You were attacked by a Prior vessel?" Han said.

Daala glared, obviously not liking to be interrupted. However, at Anakin's nod, she answered. "By what you have termed an Ori 'attack' vessel, rather than by one of the destroyer ships. We were able to dispatch it fairly easily, but the attack did lead us to break communication silence. Upon learning the state of the Empire, I made a command decision to seek you out."

While the others there did not appreciate it, Anakin sensed in her words and mind the struggle Daala had gone through to make that decision. The Galactic Alliance was not the New Order, and she did not approve of what had become of the Empire in her absence. The alternative, however…

Anakin stood. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to have to ask that this be a confidential meeting between myself, Admiral Daala and her staff, and Jedi Enwandung-Esterhazy."

The brass looked perturbed. Anakin's eyes sought out Piett, however, who nodded. "Excellent, commander," Piett said. "This will provide time for the readiness meeting we were going to have. Officers, if you will follow me to the second command conference room?"

And with that, the room emptied out.

When they were alone, Anakin stepped around the table. "Tallisibeth, could you also step outside for a moment with Dr. Xux?"

The other Jedi sensed his intent and nodded as she and the perplexed Xux left the admiral and commander alone.

"Admiral, are you aware that I am a Jedi?"

"I have been so informed, Commander."

"I sense that you do not wish to be here. That you have come to believe your presence here is a mistake."

She lifted her chin. "You may speak candidly, Admiral," Anakin said. "We are alone."

"This is not my empire. And you are no Darth Vader."

The choice of words startled him. Why had she chosen to say that?

"No, I suppose not," he said, allowing a rueful smile. "If I were, you would be dead now. Darth Vader personally killed four admirals for talking back or failing him. Perhaps you met Admiral Ozzel?" Anakin stood over her and offered her a hand. "I want to show you something."

She glanced at the hand with obvious distrust, but allowed him to help her to her feet. They walked to a tactical holodisplay in a corner. Anakin called up a recording. "The world is Dantooine. The Emperor and I arrived simultaneously. As you can see, five Ori ships absorbed two direct hits from the second Death Star, and then destroyed it with a single blast. The Emperor's observation tower was struck immediately. We lost a star destroyer as well. Eventually, the Ori destroyer was dealt with when I ordered the _Executor_ to ram the enemy."

Daala stood watching the recording with rapt, unflinching attention. Even so, she did not miss anything. "So Darth Vader did not really die on Naboo, as the holonets said."

"He did. Darth Vader was a broken, twisted puppet of the Emperor. He could not live beyond the Empire. I am Anakin Skywalker, and I am facing the most powerful foe this galaxy has ever seen. I need your help, Admiral Daala, if we as a civilization are to survive this."

"Why have you told me this?" Daala demanded.

"Because I know how much it cost you to come here. And I want you to know that I respect the price you paid and your bravery in paying it, for I have also paid a price to be where I am right now. If you join us, it will be as a full fleet admiral. And, should you wish it, you may continue to oversee weapons development."

"It is difficult to be here."

"I know, Daala."

The admiral lifted her chin again. "Well, we certainly do have things to discuss."

The door opened and Tallisibeth entered with Xux behind and the four of them sat down. "Dr. Xux," Daala said, "as I indicated earlier, is the head of the _Sun Crusher_ project. Dr. Xux, can you give a brief description of your project?"

The Omwati placed a small holopad on the table and activated a hologram of a tiny ship. "The _Sun Crusher_ itself is about the size of a small shuttle. However, it is nearly indestructible. It uses layered molecular armor that is extremely difficult to manufacture, but unstoppable. This ship could fly through a star, or the bridge of a starship, if necessary."

Anakin sat up, obviously intrigued. "Why is it called _Sun Crusher_?"

Xux touched a button and brought up an image of an ordinary-looking torpedo casing. "Resonance torpedoes. When launched into a star, it can cause that star to go nova. Once fired, the effects are irreversible."

Anakin felt a chill and his eyes sought out Daala's. "Was this part of Tarkin's doctrine?"

"Of course," Daala said, completely unrepentant. "If the Death Star struck fear into planets, the _Sun Crusher_ could strike fear into whole systems."

"In a war to save planets, it may not be the most ideal weapon," Tallisibeth pointed out.

"Not the torpedoes, perhaps," Anakin said. "But the ship itself could be quite useful."

"You're both wrong," Xux said, with an absent expression. Daala shrugged an apology, as if it was to be expected from researches. Xux continued without noticing. "I've studied those Ori ships. Just as the superlaser is a magnified turbolaser, the Ori shields are a magnified ray/particle shield. That means it operates on a quantifiable resonance pattern. The _Sun Crusher's_ torpedoes could be adapted to counteract those patterns and disrupt their shields. Once their shields are down, they are just as vulnerable as any other ships."

"And the prototype death star?" Anakin asked. "Can anything be done with that?"

"Depends on the resources available to us," Xux said. "My mentor had plans drawn up for a ship-based superlaser called the _Eclipse_. I believe we could take a hypermatter reactor and one of the component beams of the prototype and mount it on a super star destroyer frame. It would have about a sixth of the death star's power, but that is still more powerful than any other single weapon in your possession."

They continued talking for perhaps another two hours before Anakin thanked them for their time. When they left, he commed the bridge. "Please contact _Alliance One_ and request a meeting with President Organa Skywalker at her earliest possible convenience."

"Yes, sir."

Tallisibth raised an eyebrow. "This seems to be a military decision," she said.

Anakin nodded, then stood and began pacing before a row of port windows. He could just make out the long, organic shape of _Alliance One_a few hundred thousand meters away. "Leia needs to know. Perhaps not as president, but as…I could not even think to authorize the use of superlasers unless she knew."

"I think I understand," Tallisibeth said. "Do you want me to go with you?"

He turned abruptly and walked back to her. "No, I'll need to talk to her alone." He leaned over and kissed her very gently. "Thank you."

"Saving souls is what we Jedi do," Tallisibeth said.

Two hours later, Anakin Skywalker stood outside the door of the interim president of the Galactic Alliance. Technically, he was the actual head of the government since by treaty the military rule remained in effect, but by common agreement, he let Leia handle the administrative aspects of government. She was simply better at it than he was.

Now, however, he felt as if he were about to enter the Jedi Council for the first time as a young boy. His nervousness was tinged by fear, fear that his daughter would recoil in revulsion at what he had come to discuss.

The sentries received a silent signal through their helmets and opened the door. Leia sat alone at her desk, waiting for him as he walked in. She hitched a thumb at the frame of the prototype that took up such a large portion of the planet's orbit in the viewports behind her. "I gathered you had something you wanted to talk to me about," she said, with barely contained anger.

The first thing that popped into his mind was a sharp reminder of who was in charge of military decisions. The second was that this was the daughter he had longed for but never had, whose shoulders he held as she watched her world destroyed by an identical device.

He crossed the floor, pulled one of the chairs closer to Leia's desk, and sat down with his hands clasped together on her desk. "I promise you I had no advanced knowledge of this prototype. I knew it had been built, but assumed it had been destroyed after the destruction of the first Death Star."

Leia stared at him for a long time, and he could feel her mind probing his through the Force. Her touch was untrained, but strong with the raw talent that ran through her blood. Rather than deflect her, he reached out, took her hand, and opened himself to her.

She reared back, blinking. "You didn't have to do that."

"I think I did."

"You want to build a fleet of dreadnaughts with these superlasers?"

"In time. For now, we should work to convert the existing _Executor_-class dreadnaughts. There are four we currently have in service that we have access to besides my own. The _Aggressor_, _Guardian_, _Night Hammer_ and _Iron First_. Admiral Daala's staff assures me they could mount a component superlaser on each of those ships for a fraction of the cost and time of building a ship from scratch. None will be as powerful as the Death Star, but I believe that would work to our advantage. As Tallisibeth said to me earlier, we are fighting to save planets, and having smaller, more mobile and tactical superlasers would be a boon."

"I assume you've already given the order, then?"

"No."

Leia blinked. "Why not?"

"I wanted your approval first."

"Approval?" Leia pushed herself to her feet and began pacing with her hands behind her back. Anakin noted with a shock that she unconsciously mirrored his own movements when he was thinking. "You want me to give approval to weapons of unimaginable terror?"

"No, just to us having them," Anakin said. "I couldn't…" He leaned back. "Do you know what my first thought was when Tallisibeth showed me the prototype in orbit?"

"What?"

"I asked myself, 'Oh Stars, what will Leia think?'"

The president collapsed back in her chair. "Those things are evil."

"The creator of those things was evil," Anakin corrected. "I was evil. But now—I don't know what else to do, Leia. We've lost all contact with Luke and Kyle. There has been almost no activity at all in weeks, and the Force is warning me the peace will not hold. A battle is coming soon. We need all the resources we can get." He looked at his daughter. "Tell me not to do it, and I will not. I owe you that at the very least."

She turned away from him and stared out at the monster in orbit. "I hated you so much that day." She didn't need to say what day she meant.

"And I hate myself for that day as well," Anakin said. "Tarkin gave the order, but I did nothing to stop it. Nor would I have. And now, even the thought of what I put you through, the thought of what I did to your people…" His throat closed off and he could not continue.

She turned back around and stared at him in silence a moment, before she stood, walked around the desk, and stopped in front of him. She reached down and touched his cheek, pulling away a finger glistening with moisture. Her own eyes grew moist. "That is the first time I have seen you weep for what you have done."

"It is not the first time I've wept for my sins, I promise," Anakin whispered.

She knelt down until they were of a height, and then pulled him into her embrace. "Now I can call you my father," she whispered.

Her words were like a lightsaber, burning through the barriers of any semblance of self control Anakin Skywalker clung to. The force of his emotions pulled him onto the floor, where he held on to his daughter and cried. "I am so sorry," he gasped, sobbing. "I am so sorry for all the pain I caused."

She cried too, for her own pain, for the memories of all the ghosts of those Darth Vader killed, and for the terrible wound in her father left by that same ghost's dark memory. "I forgive you," she whispered in a thick voice, tears streaming into her lips as she spoke. "I love you, Father. And I forgive you."

They sat there for the remaining hour of their appointment and said nothing more. It was that silence, more than any other words, that allowed the healing to finally begin.

Less than ten hours later, a fleet of support ships and an army of thousands of engineers descended on the Death Star prototype and the flagship of the Alliance fleet, the _Executor_.


	28. Chap 27: Shards of a Crimson Empire

Well, I got several more reviews with this last chapter. Thank you. Since the Forum move didn't seem to go over all that well, I'll respond to each review as best I can here. If this isn't proper etiquette, again, please let me know.

**Ancient Lantean**--Bwuahahaha. Yes, I pulled out a surprise. Yep. And in my AU of starwars, each star destroyer has a emergency command bridge in the bowels of the ship too!

**Jedi Master Sabbath**--Superlasers and Sun Crushers, oh my! Might pull another suprise on you and Lantean soon. No Galaxy Gun, though. Just didn't like the idea, honestly.

**Reagan**(1)-Kyle will be sorely tested, and in more ways than one. I wish I could say he passes with flying colors, but...you'll see.

**Reagan**(2)--No problem about the Luke/Mara paring. I was originally a Luke/Callista person just because I like Barbara Hambly as a writer. Zahn does great action, but frankly he didn't capture much romance in my mind. Just my personal op, but oh well. Still, I overcame it for the story. Mara herself is an interesting bundle of story ideas. But I did deliver some H/L for you!

**master cheif rulz**--thank you.

**Worker72**--The Ori impregnated Vala without any help from a male. It is assumed within this story (by me ;) that the Ori can do the same with any woman at any time. In fact, they may have already done so. As for the Ascended question--I would say most of the Ascended are Jedi. There may be one or two exceptions, however. As for being sappy--guilty as charged. So? ;)

Padme will not come back from the dead.

Well, here we go with Chapter Twenty Seven. Enjoy!

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Shards of a Crimson Empire**

Ekria fell with terrible finality. The air rushed around her, piercing her ear drums and whipping her blue-black hair away from her face. Below she saw only the encroaching, awful darkness. She was going to die.

And yet, a small part of her welcomed it. The man who had been by her side for over twenty years, who had seen her through unimaginable travails and had given her his complete devotion, was dead. Her beautiful Jake was gone. She felt as if her soul had already died, and her body was simply rushing to catch up.

Jake.

And then, without warning, she crashed through a thin roof onto a luxuriously padded surface that absorbed much of her fall. Even so, she lay perfectly still, stunned to be alive, as she stared up through the hole she had made in the roof of an obviously fast-moving vehicle.

"What the kriff was that?" a harsh voice said from the front of the vehicle.

Stunned by the fall and her unexpected survival, Ekria at first did not respond as a strong, hard-looking face peered over the back of the seat and stared at her with a blaster pointed at her. "It's a woman," he said. "A woman fell in our speeder."

"Always our luck," another voice, also male, said. "You wait for a woman to drop in on you your whole life, and she waits until after the whole galaxy has gone to hell to finally land."

The first man prodded her with the blaster. "Hey, who are you?"

"Ekria," she managed to say.

"Well, Ekria, what were you doing falling through the city?"

The hidden voice said: "Probably another suicide. Can't really blame them."

The visible face nodded, then turned to study her. "Uh, Kir?"

"What?"

"She has a lightsaber."

The speeder changed direction abruptly and then came to a stop. Through the fog of her daze, she heard a door slide open. The Force itself said nothing to her, either of danger or opportunity. Her body and soul ached. She lay where she was and waited for whatever fate had in store for her.

Evidently, her fate involved a hand pulling her long blue-black hair as she was yanked harshly from the back seat. Instinct and training took over and she spun into a Force-driven kick that should have snapped the arm of the man pulling her.

An incredibly strong hand caught her foot. She stifled her surprise and fear and lashed out with the second foot. This time she was rewarded with a muffled grunt and a second of freedom. She shot to her feet and then somersaulted a short distance away across the surface of wherever they were. She landed with her blade lit and found herself facing two men armed with blasters and what looked like meter long force pikes. Both men were muscular and positioned themselves with the easy grace of trained warriors. Although their faces had different shapes, both had dark hair and harsh planes to their faces, and were of almost identical height.

"I don't want to hurt you," she warned them. "But I am Jedi, and I will defend myself."

The leader of the two twirled his pike with sure-handed skill. "You're not the first Jedi we've faced," he said. This was the man she heard but could not see in the speeder.

Suddenly the Force, which had been oddly silent screamed in warning. At the same moment, she saw the direction of the leader's eyes shift from her to something slightly behind her.

She leapt first and spun mid-air to see a group of Ori soldiers approaching. With them came a prior.

The two men responded without a moment's hesitation and opened fire with their blasters. Their shots were astoundingly precise, hitting each target squarely between the exposed eyes. Ekria, however, focused on the prior, just as he focused on her.

"Your companion Katarn shall serve us," the prior said to Ekria, as if the battle between his soldiers and the two free men was nothing. "Can you also accept the path of origin, Jedi Ekria, or must you die like your lover?"

She ground her teeth and fought back tears. This is what he wanted, to make her touch the Dark Side. She knew once she did, he would be able to destroy her with ease. She inhaled a lung full of air, centered herself in the Force, and then leapt away as half a dozen stave blasts flashed at her.

She felt the Ori's power grab her in mid air and push her toward the maw beyond the parapet. She reached out with the Force and pulled herself down on top of two Ori soldiers. The soldiers tumbled to the ground, but before either could react, she sent both flying toward the prior.

The prior knocked both soldiers aside with his staff just in time to deflect her lightsaber blow. All thought of the two warriors behind her was forgotten as she narrowed her attention to the creature before her.

The prior wielded his staff with skill, easily blocking each blow while striking continuously at her feet and head. She sensed death in the staff, and had no doubt its merest touch could harm her as surely as if it were a lightsaber.

The two fought along the edge of the parapet, lunging and parrying, shuffling and jumping. Ekria knew she was not the strongest of the knights, but she felt the Force flowing through her, and let it guide her hands and augment her muscles. The prior's link to his Ori gods seemed to do the same for him, and the two fought to a stand-still.

And then, so suddenly Ekria let out a startled yelp, the prior's head split into a bloody mess under the well-placed blow of a force pike. Ekria stumbled back, shocked out of her battle meditation, to see the two warriors standing behind the falling prior. Behind them lay over twenty dead Ori soldiers.

Twenty.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Kir Kanos, this is Duan Paldi. We are Imperial guardsmen on detached duty. We are servants of the Empire." Both lowered their pikes at her. She knew she could defend herself, but doubted she could kill both men easily—not if they were lethal enough to kill twenty Ori soldiers by themselves.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Kir demanded.

"I was part of a Jedi advanced mission to scout Coruscant for possible military action to retake the planet."

"The Jedi are dead," Kir said.

Ekria ground her teeth. "Not all of us. And we're being reformed. After the death of the Emperor at Dantooine, Darth Vader determined only the Jedi could defeat the priors. He made a treaty with the Rebel Alliance to form a new government called the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances to fight the Ori." She could see the scorn and doubt in their faces. "The treaty was ratified by the Imperial admiralty and College of Moffs."

"And where is Darth Vader now?"

"He died shortly after making the alliance from wounds taken in battle with the Ori. Currently the Alliance is headed by Princess Leia Organa Skywalker and the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, Anakin Skywalker."

The man's eyes narrowed. "Anakin Skywalker?"

He knew. She could see it in his eyes. She lifted her chin and nodded. "Anakin left his exile and was installed as Supreme Commander shortly after the death of Darth Vader."

"Of course." Kir holstered his blaster, though his partner Duan kept his out in preparation for another attack. "So, what should we do with you, little Jedi?"

"I'm not so little," Ekria said, though in fact she was dwarfed by him. "And ten to one I'm older than you by a decade."

Kir shrugged. "You must hide your age well. Even so, age doesn't mean wisdom. I've known many very old fools. Are you a fool, Ekria? What is it you hope to do here?"

"My partner was captured by Dark Jedi in the service of the Ori. I want to save him, and then escape the planet to make a report to the Alliance."

"And what do you think this Alliance of yours will do?"

"The commander will determine if Coruscant is an appropriate target to be liberated."

"Jerec _has_ been a thorn in our side," Duan said.

She knew without a doubt that neither of these men served the Dark Jedi. "Tell me, Kir Kanos and Duan Paldi, what is it you hope to do here?"

"To protect the Empire from its enemies."

"The Empire is dead."

"Not so long as I breathe," Kir snapped back.

Ekria made her decision and deactivated her blade. "Fine. But I am not your enemy, Kir. I'm here to do a job to try and save the people of this planet and then leave. And it sounds like my doing my job would help you do yours. I could certainly use the help."

"I'm not sure we need your help," Kir said, studying her. "You act older than you look, I'll give you that."

"You should. I was already trained as a Jedi when the Republic fell."

Kir shrugged. "Then you should count your blessings that you live at all." He nodded. "All right. Come with us, we'll see what we can do."

* * *

"I could make your life heaven or hell," Sariss whispered into Kyle's ear. She pressed her body against his, filling his senses with her presence. She was, without a doubt, beautiful. The revealing bustier she wore only made the effect that much more intoxicating.

"How 'bout you make me free," Kyle said, not quite drunk on her yet.

She reared back, both hands resting on his bare chest, and laughed. "Perhaps, in time."

"Is this what you did to twist that little puppy of yours into doing your bidding? Promise him sex and power?"

"Not even power," Sariss confirmed with a purr. Her dismissal of the young Dark Jedi was even more disturbing to Kyle than the fact that she threw Ekria off the parapet. "Jun was in love with the idea of being in love with me. I granted him the favor of my affection, and he was mine."

"And then you threw him away like a piece of meat."

She shrugged and stepped off the bed Kyle was very firmly attached to. "I do what must be done. Always. And because of that, you do realize, Kyle, that I am going to hurt you."

"Yeah, figured."

"It doesn't have to be that way, though."

"You're right. You could let me go."

She laughed again. "I do like you, Katarn. I am going to regret torturing the light out of you. But there is just too much evil in you to resist."

Kyle propped himself up on his elbows. "And who the kriff do you think I'm going to kill first when I turn, huh?"

She flew across the space of the chamber with Force-borne speed to grab his head in her hands. But instead of striking him she latched her lips onto his in a fierce, painful kiss. "Jerec, of course," she whispered when they parted. "Because if you turn, I will be yours, body and soul."

"Great," Kyle muttered, though he found it difficult to find the will to resist when he found his face pressed against her chest. "Just great."

Outside the room, watching on multiple displays, Jerec smiled in appreciation of his apprentice's technique. Though blind, he could feel the energies of their Force patterns swirling in the room, and the turmoil his apprentice brought forth from Katarn. Beside him stood the prior once known as Sate Pestage. "It appears your position is in danger," the prior said.

Jerec chuckled. "Not from one such as Katarn. No, Sariss simply does what she must to turn and control him. I have read about this one. His weakness is women. Speaking ofwhich, did you find anything about his girlfriend, Ors?"

"She rejected the Path," the prior said.

It was a euphemistic, albeit clear, announcement of her death. There were those who accepted the Path and were recruited immediately into the Ori ranks, then those who were Lost and needed educating, and then those who rejected the Path and were killed immediately.

"Too bad," Jerec said. "Torturing her to death would easily have driven him to the Dark Side. However, knowing she is dead may also be a useful tool. Sariss is skilled at using every tool to great effect."

The prior said nothing at first. When he did speak, his already old voice sounded ancient. "The last Jedi lives."

Jerec lookedastounded. "How can that be?"

"She has taken shelter with two who have rejected the path, but resisted our efforts to cleanse them. These two have proven worthy opponents to the soldiers of the faithful, more so than any non-Jedi we have encountered."

Jerec nodded. "Probably Imperial guards, or possibly even sovereign protectors. They were a cadre of the most elite human warriors in the galaxy. But most died with the Emperor on the Death Star. It seems odd any would have survived."

"Nonetheless, they are aiding a Jedi," the prior said. "They must be hunted down and destroyed."

"I agree," Jerec said. It was an illusion, Jerec knew, to make it sound as if he actually had some say on the subject. He did not, of course, but it helped to pretend he did.

The prior had no need to comment.

Thanks for reading. DM


	29. Chap 28: Faith

I know this post is a little later than norma--it's been a busy couple of weeks. So, anyway, since the Forum idea didn't seem to go over so well, I'll continue responding to reviews here until someone says otherwise!

**ancient lantean**--Yes indeedy, Kir Canos is alive. The Crimson Empire lives!

**tilius**--Thank you.

**Worker72**--Yep, and serve the people is there choice. Kir was never a happy sort of fellow, but he was a loyal and honorable one.

**Vader fan**--no probs, read along as you like. As for Kyle--his story continues well beyond Gods of Dark and Light. So at least you know that he doesn't die--or do you? ;) Glad you're liking Vadekin as well. It's nice to redeem fallen heroes.

**firestar**--Thank you.

**master cheif rulz**--Thank you for the kind words.

**grayangle**--His ambition knows no bounds, or commen sense. The Ori are no just more Sith Lords. But he'll learn the price of not playing well with others soon enough.

This next chapter is not fluff. It is not action. It is religious discourse. Why do so many people in the SG verse switch allegience to the Ori. Is it only because of the power? Or is there an element of the faith that many may find attractive?

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Faith**

Mara and Luke roused themselves from their light slumber as the stone door of their cell ground open and a single man stepped through. Luke recognized him immediately as Sonel, the Teacher who had welcomed them so warmly onto the station.

This time the Ori Teacher wore an expression of sad regret, as if regarding children who were deeply loved and yet needed to be punished. He stopped perhaps a meter from the two Jedi and settled onto the floor in a cross-legged position. Luke mirrored the position, as did Mara beside him.

"Sonel," Luke said, greeting him with a nod of his head.

"I was deeply saddened to learn of your blasphemies," the Teacher said. "When I first saw you, and heard your words, my heart rejoiced that you walked the path beside me. But those were lies."

"Yes," Luke said. As much as he wanted to hate the enemy, like the other Ori servants he had met, Luke sensed no actual evil in the man himself. Even so, he knew Sonel would kill them without a moment's hesitation, if that is what his gods demanded. "Tell me, Sonel, why are you here?"

"I am a Teacher," Sonel said. "I was blessed by the Ori, hallowed be their name, in the learning of the languages of this galaxy. I was blessed by them to be a Teacher of Origin. And I have guided many down that path to the paradise that follows. I feel great joy in this, and sorrow when I fail. I feel as if I have failed with you, and yet I must try one last time to save you, and show you the righteousness of the Path of Origin. I must do this as much for my sake as for the sake of your own souls."

Mara stared as Luke reached out and took the Teacher's hands in his. "Sonel, I sense that you are a man of deep faith and love. I honor you for that. But you must understand that I am a Jedi. I am a servant of the Force. And when I die, I shall become one with the Force, and from what I have recently learned, through the Force is the only true path to what you call ascension."

Sonel pulled his hands away in alarm. "Then it is true, the blasphemies they say you have espoused. There can be no true ascension but through the Path of Origin." He pulled an old leather-bound book from a fold in his robes and, flipping the book open at a seemingly random page, began to read: "'Glorious are the Ori, who lead us to salvation, who did fight the evil that would doom us all to mortal sin. Did they defeat the old spirits and cast them out? And now, with the strength of our will, they do call upon us to prevail against the corruption of all unbelievers.'"

Luke leaned back with a sad shake of his head. "I have no verses to quote to you, Sonel. The light-side of the Force is not a religion of absolutes. Absolutes and inflexible proclamations are of the Dark Side. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge, for healing, and for the defense of the weak. For millennia the Jedi have been the protectors of peace and justice in this galaxy."

"Noble sentiments on the surface, no doubt," Sonel said. "Have the Jedi never killed? We both know that is not true."

"In defense, either of one's self or those without defense, the Jedi can and have killed. But never out of spite or rage or anger. I have killed priors, Sonel, but I have never hated them. Rather, I did what was necessary to defend the people of this galaxy from the threat your religion poses."

"And yet, when I read about the history of your galaxy, I read of war after war, many of which directly involved the Jedi. There was even a Jedi Civil War, Sith Wars, and a host of others leading up to the Clone Wars that sparked the start of the Empire. Jedi were involved in all of these, Luke Skywalker. Wars have surged through this galaxy for thousands of years and continue to do so, and billions died. Whereas, in my galaxy, those worlds loyal to the Ori have not known conflict for many thousands of years. The Ori are the ultimate protectors of peace and justice, much more so than you Jedi."

"Except to those who do not accept your faith," Luke said. "You are not protectors of peace, my friend. You are the greatest threat this galaxy has ever known."

"What threat?" Sonel demanded. He spoke softly but with firmness, like a logics professor challenging a student. "Let me tell you of my life before coming to this galaxy, Luke Skywalker. I have a wife of twenty years, to whom I am devoted beyond all measure. She has borne me three strong sons and two beautiful daughters, who in turn have borne me seven healthy, beautiful grandchildren. When my third child fell it and almost died, it was a prior of the Ori who healed her. My parents still live and are healthy and happy, as are those of my wife. We have never wanted for food or clothing. We know only happiness and joy as we walk together on the Path. Our lives are filled with love, and we worship the Ori gladly for the many gifts that have been bestowed on us. How can you call that a threat?"

"If you discovered your wife had strayed from Origin, what would you do?"

"Origin tells the story of Amica, who strayed from the path of enlightenment. He was forgiven, and was allowed back on the path."

"What if she chose not to return to Origin?"

Sonel's expression hardened. "Those who abandon the path are evil and must be destroyed. But discussing my wife is pointless, for she holds Origin in her heart, and would gladly give her life, or the lives of her children, before straying from it."

"And that is the threat," Luke said. "It is the threat of blind fanaticism. The universe is not so absolute, my friend. Not all beings are evil because they disagree with you, just as I do not think you are evil even though you are a part of a force that has killed over three trillion sentient beings, who also had wives and husbands, and who had children, and whose lives were filled with love and happiness." Luke pulled the numbers from the latest casualty reports prior to his mission. "Three thousand billion people, Sonel. The populations of countless worlds that have been ravaged by Ori plagues and Ori forces. And why? They did not ask the Ori to come to them, nor did they commit any other sin but to live and believe as they wished. That, my friend, is the threat that I and my fellow Jedi fight against."

Sonel nodded sadly. "It is true that many have perished, and I mourn for their loss. However, Origin tells us that enemies of the Ori will show no mercy in their attempt to lead us astray from the true path, likewise we must attack with all the Strength which we have been given."

"We were not leading you astray," Luke pointed out. "You came here and attacked us."

The Teacher leaned forward. "We are brothers, Luke Skywalker, though you would deny it." He took Luke's hand and placed it palm-to-palm against his own. "We are from different galaxies, and yet we are the same. The language you speak is not so different than my own. We are both children of the Ori. And like any good parents, the Ori seek to educate their children upon the path of righteousness. Fear not the Ori, Luke. Rather, fear the darkness that would conceal the knowledge of the universe. Believe in the truth of the Ori, and you could find a path to enlightenment!"

"The path is a lie," Luke said. "I know I cannot convince you of this, Sonel. But the Ori do not enlighten you. They do not help your people ascend. They are parasites. They feed off the adoration of their followers. The Path of Origin leads only to darkness. And I cannot follow you there."

Sonel stared deeply into Luke's eyes, and then Mara's. He then bowed his head for a moment, as if in prayer. When he looked up again, there were tears in his eyes. "I have failed, then," he said in a thick voice. "I am so sorry for you, my friends. I am so sorry you cannot know the true joy of Origin." He pushed himself to his knees, and to Luke's shock, bent over and kissed him lightly on the forehead.

Then he stood and looked down on them, visibly steeling himself. "The power and the greatness of the Ori cannot be denied. And those who reject the path to enlightenment must be destroyed." He turned and, as the door opened with the grinding of stone, walked out of the room.

"That could have gone better," Mara noted.

Luke nodded. "He is a good man following an evil cause," Luke said. "Almost all of them are the same. It makes it hard sometimes to do what must be done."

"Well, from the sound of it, I don't think we're going to be doing much else except dying."

He took her hand and squeezed. "Have faith, Mara. Faith in the Force."

"I'll try," she said with a shrug and a kiss on his cheek. "But in the meantime, I'll just have to settle for having faith in you."

* * *

Kyle screamed as the nerve inductor seared through his body again. The plate of inducers lifted off his body, to be replaced by Sariss's hand as she gently caressed his chest. "I sense your anger," she whispered into his ear. "Give in to it. Let it make you strong."

"By the stars I'd pay you money to just shut up," Kyle gasped hoarsely.

"I would never accept your money," Sariss whispered as she ran her tongue along the edge of his beard. "But there are other means of payment I would accept." She climbed on top of him entirely, pressing against him as she pressed her lips against his.

"Give yourself to me," she whispered. "The pain you have suffered would be nothing compared to the pleasure I could give you. Give yourself to me, and it ends now."

"You are a royal pain in the ass," Kyle snapped, still breathing hard from the agony of the nerve inducers. "You must be nuts to think I'd ever have anything to do with you!"

"Your words say one thing, your eyes say another," Sariss said, purring. She lifted herself upright, and easily shrugged out of her flimsy robes.

Kyle's breath caught in his throat as she leaned back over him. "Love me," she whispered; demanded. "Love me, and your pain will be at an end."

"I can't," he gasped desperately. "Jan…"

She placed both hands on his cheeks and pulled his face to within a hair's breadth of hers. "I looked for her, Kyle Katarn, this woman of yours. She was killed during the first purge by the Ori, before we even came to this world. She has been dead for many months."

Tears came unbidden to his eyes. "You're lying!"

She kissed him gently, and caressed his cheek with the back of her fingers. "You know I'm not," she said. "You can sense the truth in my words. In this one thing, I am sorry."

Kyle looked away, his jaw clenching. Yes, he did know it was true. He'd known the moment he saw the huge gashes in the surface of Coruscant that Jan had not survived.

Kyle looked away, his jaw clenching. Yes, he did know it was true. He'd known the moment he saw the huge gashes in the surface of Coruscant that Jan had not survived.

The pain still lingered in his mind from the nerve induction, both augmented and at the same time negated by the undeniably beautiful woman pressing on top of him, her lips brushing against his neck.

He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing the tears away, and turned his head back to meet her lips with his own. Suddenly, the wrist and feet binders snapped free. But instead of jumping to his feet at the sudden freedom, Kyle's arms instead wrapped around Sariss and pulled her even tighter against him.

_Oh Jan, I'm so sorry,_ a small corner of his mind lamented, even as they rest if him gave in to the overwhelming temptation of the Sith woman.

In the next room, Jerec smiled humorlessly. The prior had gone to see to other duties, leaving the former head of the Inquisitorius alone to watch the fall of yet another Jedi. The Miraluka had no eyes, like all the others of his race, but through the Force he could see the bodies of his apprentice and latest victim intertwined.

It brought no joy to the Dark Jedi. He knew of the Ori's plans in Corellia, and had watched as the fleet of captured Imperial and Ori ships left orbit over the former Imperial Center, essentially abandoning the world. Of course, they left a whole cadre of priors and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but Jerec knew that was but a drop in the bucket. For all intents and purposes, Coruscant and everything on it had been abandoned for the great "Plan" that was going on in the Corellian system.

By everything, Jerec included himself. With the almost inconsequential deaths of Jun, Gorc and Pic, and the previous deaths of Boc and Maw, his dark Jedi were nearly gone. Granted, Katarn would be a powerful addition, but it was not enough. Jerec knew he was of very limited value to the Ori now. They had reached a critical mass now that precluded the need for their priors to face the Jedi in single combat. And since there was no need to face the Jedi, what need had they of Dark Jedi?

"I will not be cast aside," Jerec whispered aloud.


	30. Chap 29: The Guardsmen

**ancient lantean**--thank you. SG-1 came across several situations where they were on the loosing side of religious debates with Priors. If the religion didn't appeal to the masses, the Ori themselves would have lost their followers even with the threat of violence. As for Tyber Zann--chances are if a character is not in the story but you think they should be, then they failed to follow the Path of Origin. Or I just didn't remember to get them in. ;)

**Reagan**--don't laugh at me, but I was never able to finish KOTOR or KOTOR II. I like simple shoot 'em ups and KOTOR was just too complicated for my simple, plebian mind. So while I know who Bastilla and Malak are technically, I know nothing about them. But yes, Kyle is definitely not in a good place, and he will slide further before it's all said and done. And Luke's just nipped the tip of the ice berg.

**Tilius**--thank you.

**grayangle**--He's blinded (pardon the pun) by his own ambition.

**Worker72**--Glad that worked for you. As for the Ori abandoning Coruscant--remember that at least in this AU, the Ori DO NOT LIKE THE FORCE. The Force is interfering with their power and the powers of the Priors. They want to destroy the Force and all those that can harness it. So, they don't care about Force Nexis all that much.

**master cheif rulz**--we might get a glimpse of a familiar face, but it won't be SG-1. For the purpose of long ago in a galaxy far far away, this story is taking place at approximately 1850 A.D. by our calendar.

**

* * *

****Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Guardsmen**

Kir Kanos did not talk much. Neither did his partner Duan, but compared to Kir, Duan was an incessant chatterer.

"Jedi, huh?" he said, staring at her appraisingly.

Ekria knew she was an attractive woman. Her blue hair and traditional Baroli facial markings always grabbed the attention of men, so she was not unaccustomed to being staring at. This look, though, was not of a man leering at a woman, but a soldier studying a potential opponent. "And you were alive at the end of the Clone Wars? You don't look like you're twenty-five yet."

"I've aged well."

"Your hair is blue. You're really human?"

"So I've been told."

Duan snorted and turned back to face forward. Night was quickly falling. In times past, that would have meant little since the planet-wide city had lit the skies all night long. Now, however, as the sun set and the orbiting mirror arrays lost the light, darkness began to settle in more profoundly than anything Ekria had ever seen before. It was a still darkness, as if the night air itself were asleep, and nothing dared wake it.

"Where are we going?"

"The _Lusankya_," Kir said shortly.

"What's that?"

"You'll see."

Evidently, whatever the _Lusankya_ was, it seemed to be located at the Galactic Museum, because that's where they were headed. Or, she should have said, that's what they seemed to be landing in. Without slowing the sleek speeder, Kir flew directly into the wide open doors and into the first level atrium of the darkened building.

This was surprising enough a show of skill, but Ekria thought he would then stop the craft and get out. Instead, he continued flying into the interior of the darkened museum, lifting the nose of the speeder to zip past the escalators and turbolifts to the second atrium. Only there, next to an exhibit of the Rakatan, did he set the speeder down.

He and Duan got out without saying a word. Ekria scrambled to follow the two taciturn men as they easily walked through the darkened space. Occasionally the Jedi could see an emergency light glowing on self-sustaining batteries, but all overhead lighting was off.

Finally, they entered what looked like a service hall and stopped before a large picture of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. With the slightest hint of a sly smile, Kir reached up and pushed on the prominent nose of the portrait. The entire portrait sank back into the wall, revealing a small turbolift carriage.

The three of them squeezed in, Ekria between the two Imperial guards. With so little space, it was impossible to avoid contact. "Don't get any ideas," she said.

Duan grinned. Kir said nothing and pushed the only button on the car.

Instantly they dropped away from the museum, heading in what felt like to Ekria a diagonal drop down, rather than a vertical one. "So what is the _Lusankya_?"

"It's Ysanne Isard's private prison," Duan said, when it was obvious Kir was not going to respond.

"_The_ Ysanne Isard?"

"Don't worry, she's dead," Kir said finally. He turned and studied her face. "Ysanne and all the other high level officials were rounded up by the Ori's soldiers and converts. Half the moffs on the planet were turned into priors after Pestage. They oversaw a cleansing of the government. Isard died along with most of the rest of Imperial Intelligence. I just happened to find a few survivors who were able to tell me about this place."

The car came to a stop and opened onto a brightly lit hall of the famous Imperial gray. "So you're working out of an underground prison?"

"Come on," Kir said.

They traveled through hundreds of meters of deserted hallways and turbolifts, until at last they came onto a room that made Ekria's heart skip a beat. "This is a star destroyer bridge," she said. "A command bridge."

And that's exactly what it was, only twice as large as any ship's bridge she had heard of. There were hundreds of console seats in sunken trenches running around the length of the bridge, with higher walkways for command staff.

And it was not empty. As soon as they emerged a pair of Imperial officers, overseeing perhaps thirty men, turned to meet them. "Colonel," the first officer said in greeting to Kir. He also wore the insignia of a colonel. The second wore lieutenant's pips.

"Colonel Fel," Kanos said.

"And who is your guest?" Colonel Fel said. Like Kir and Duan, Fel carried himself with the easy grace of an accomplished warrior.

"My name is Ekria, Jedi Knight."

Fel raised a dark brow. "Interesting. And Miss Jedi, what are you doing on Imperial Center?"

She ignored Palpatine's name for the planet. "I was sent to Coruscant as part of an advance scouting team of Jedi on behalf of the Galactic Alliance of Free Worlds to determine the feasibility of a liberation campaign. One of my colleagues…was killed. The other has been captured by Jerec."

Fel turned to Kir. "You brought her here, so obviously you believe a little bit of her story at least."

"She fought a Prior to a standstill with a lightsaber."

"But you finished him off," Ekria said, still astounded by that.

"It sounds like we have a lot to discuss, then," Fel said.

The three of them retreated to a small command conference room, while Duan stayed on the bridge. Once alone, Ekria told them about the changes in the galaxy that happened after Coruscant had been cut off. And about what they encountered when they came in.

"And you say there were none of the Ori destroyer ships?" Fel demanded.

"None. There were perhaps ten attack ships all told, but all the Imperial ships and any Ori destroyers have gone to Corellia."

Fel nodded and turned to begin a slow, methodical pace around the room. "It is hard to believe, what you have told me. I knew of the Emperor's death, but to think Darth Vader would intentionally ally the Empire with its enemies…It is difficult to accept."

"Think how I feel," Ekria muttered. "The new Jedi academy is on board the _Executor_."

Fel stared with an elegantly raised brow. "Is it really?"

"That's where Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker started it, and it's too dangerous to try and put it on a planet."

"And you say that a Jedi named Anakin Skywalker is the supreme commander?" Soontir Fel smiled as if at a distant memory. "I had an action doll and collector's card of Anakin Skywalker. I had posters of him in my room. He was my first genuine hero when I was a boy."

"I think my Skywalker doll burned with my parents," Kir said shortly.

Ekria nodded, only now remembering how Anakin had been turned into a celebrity by the holonet media during the Clone Wars. The Republic had needed a public hero, and the handsome and daring Jedi fit the bill.

Fel finally sat down. "So tell me, Miss Jedi, what you want to do?"

"I want to save my partner and then evacuate the planet so I can report what I have learned."

"And what is that?"

"That Coruscant is nearly undefended, and that the people have been slaughtered wholesale, and that the survivors need immediate assistance."

"And you think this Alliance of yours would provide that assistance?"

"We've liberated twelve systems from the Ori," she said, "and saved dozens more from infiltration. We've finally stopped the Ori advance. This is the time to do it." She looked from one man to the other. "And you, what are you planning on doing?"

"We were going to attempt to evacuate as many civilians and personnel as we could off planet," Fel admitted. "What you see around you is not just a star destroyer. The _Lusankya_ was the sister ship to the _Executor_. This is a super dreadnaught. Its normal crew and compliment would be close to three quarters of a million. We have perhaps two thousand personnel. Enough, barely, to keep essential systems online. Even so, all told this ship could easily carry a million or more civilians, provided they are willing to cope with limited space."

"That's what I was doing when you dropped in on us," Kir said. "I was spotting potential civilian targets to free. We have to be careful not to contact those who've been 'reeducated.'"

"How many have you managed to secure?"

"A few thousand only," Kir said. "They are already on board."

Suddenly things started falling into place, beginning with her unlikely fall into the only speeder streaking through Coruscanti skies. It had to be the will of the Force. "Help me, and I'll help you," she said. "I am Jedi. Through the Force I can tell if someone has been twisted into the Ori faith. I could make your search much faster. And as Kir said, I can hold my own against the priors. I am a Jedi trained since birth, and the Force is with me."

Fel nodded. "We have much to think about, Miss Jedi. If you would be so kind as to remain, Colonel Kanos and I have much to discuss." He nodded politely and the two men left. Ekria stood and began looking around the conference room, but there was nothing to see. She stretched out with her senses, and immediately began to feel the others on the ship. She felt the steely resolve of the Imperials who somehow survived the fall of the planet, and the fear and hope of the many civilians, most of them the families of the Imperials themselves.

Suddenly she paused. She could sense that those aboard were in fact the families of the personnel manning the ship. Which meant there was no reason why the _Lusankya_ crew couldn't just take off and save themselves. But they were choosing to remain in the hopes of saving even more. They were risking their lives in a selfless act to try and save innocent lives. It was the most un-imperial thing she had ever witnessed.

The door to the room opened and Kir and Fel stepped back inside. "We've decided to accept your offer," Fel said. "My friend Colonel Kanos and Duan will assist you in retrieving your friend, and in return you will assist us in the evacuation of civilians."

"Great. When do we start?"

Kir walked up to her and looked into her eyes. "Tell me, Jedi Ekria, when is the last time you slept?"

It was an unexpected question, and one she did not have an answer for.

"We'll start when you wake up," Kir said.

"I am Jedi. I've gone weeks without sleep."

"I am an Imperial guardsman. So have I. But all things being equal, it's better to go into battle rested. We'll go when you've slept. I'll show you to quarters with a fresher and bed."

* * *

She didn't know how long she had been asleep when she woke up with a cry of anguish and despair. The sound of Jake's name ricocheted from the walls in a fast-dying echo of her nightmarish memory.

Instantly, she realized she was not alone. A threatening figure stood beside her, clad in the red armor and cloak of an Imperial guardsman. Her lightsaber appeared instantly in her hand but the figure stepped back. "I did not mean to frighten you," Kir's voice emerged from the red helmet, which he then removed. "I was coming to see how you were doing."

She released her breath angrily and snapped the saber back on her belt before letting her head sink into her hands.

"This Jake was more than your partner?"

"None of your business," she snarled.

"I thought Jedi were not supposed to make emotional attachments."

"And I thought guardsmen weren't supposed to care."

Kir shrugged. "I don't. Are you ready?"

No, she wasn't ready. Her companion for the past twenty years, the man she was going to marry and have children with and love for the rest of her life, was dead. She would never be ready. "Yeah. Let's go."


	31. Chap 30: Outcast's Salvation

**Tillius**--Thank you.

**master cheif rulz**--I'm glad you're enjoying it.

**ancient lantean**--I'm glad I was able to pull a surprise on you. And Rising is a pretty good theme. SG-1 had good music to begin with, but they really hit the nail on the head with the Atlantis theme.

**grayangle**--Okay, but just for you. ;)

**Worker72**--It's there! And it flies, but not for a chapter or two. I noticed this too about religion on TV. And in movies. We rented Bridge to Terabithia. The main heroine was a blatant mary sue character who belittled religion and all those who partake of it, hinting that atheism was the only intelligent course for intelligent people. Whatever your views, the intentional snubbing of any belief system is a bit weird for a kids movie.

Alright, this is a major chapter in Kyle's story on Coruscant. I hope everyone enjoys it.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty: The Outcast's Salvation**

Kyle Katarn was not himself.

The Dark Side of the Force was not just a philosophy. The Dark Side of the Force was not just the other side of the coin from the Light. The Dark Side was a drug, as addictive and deadly as death sticks. Once tasted, it formed a psychological hook as powerful as if physiological. In fact, there was a physiological component to the Dark Side's effects as well. Palpatine's grotesque face and the orange hue of his eyes and those of other full Sith were an example. This addictiveness was the basis of the ancient Jedi warning: "Once you startdown the path of darkness, forever will it dominate your destiny."

In falling to the lure of Sariss, Kyle had not only tasted the bittersweet wine of darkness, he had drained a decanter full of it. It poured through his mind and his veins with equal fury, leaving him both shaking with fear at his own rage, and enthralled at the power it granted him.

As he followed Sariss down the halls of the abandoned Imperial Palace, his eyes glued to her body with the hunger of a stim addict needing another fix, a small corner of his mind remembered the words of Darth Vader, and the effects of the Dark Side. "_Beware the Dark Side, Kyle Katarn_," the former Sith had warned. "_Beware of it even more than the Ori. The Ori will destroy your body and kill those you love, but the Dark Side will make you do the same thing with your own hand, and then force you to carry the memory to your grave. Remember that_."

He had not killed any innocents yet. He had not shot Sith lightening from his hands or depopulated any planets. He had only allowed himself to be seduced by a woman whose evil was only matched by her beauty. Was he really so far gone?

It was difficult for him to even think, much less answer.

They came to what must have been a large audience chamber. However, the whole space was darkened save for a circle of lamps illuminating Jerec, two Priors, and a lone figure sitting on the floor.

"Ahh, Kyle, how nice of you to join us," Jerec said from the center of the circle. "I trust Sariss has made you feel at home?" He chuckled without humor.

Sariss brought Kyle to a halt just inside the circle of lights. This close, he could see that the figure was a woman, perhaps twenty, clad in rough-hewn white robes. She was a beautiful girl, with raven hair and slight epicanthic folds to her eyes that made her look just a little like…

"Your companion Miss Ors is truly dead, mores' the pity," Jerec said, easily reading his thoughts. "This lovely young lady is named Nani Delun. She is twenty-one years old, and has a baby girl of seven months. Her husband resisted the path of Origin, I'm afraid."

"What is this?" Kyle demanded. He hardly recognized his own voice.

"This is a test," Jerec explained with apparent good cheer. "I was going to have you kill your girlfriend, but alas she's dead. But one of the Priors kindly supplied this beautiful child in her place. After all, everyone knows about your penchant for women, Mr. Katarn. I doubt the test would be effective if it were a middle-aged bald man with a paunch."

Jerec folded his hands behind his back and slowly walked a circuit around the girl. "These are the terms of the test, which is really quite simple. You are going to kill Nani Delun here in cold blood. You will first cut off each of her arms and legs, and then you will cut off her head."

On the floor, Nani Delun's eyes widened and she began squirming and squealing in terror, though the gag kept her cries to a desolate whimper.

"And if I don't?"

"Sariss will kill her for you, and then I and my prior friends will kill you. Your deaths will not be quick, either. She will be made to suffer incredible pain, while the priors force her to remain awake and conscious. Perhaps a lightsaber to the soles of her feet, and then slowly dragging the blade up through the center of each leg. I would imagine that such treatment would be quite painful. And that would pale in comparison to what we would do to you after you've been made to watch her die."

Jerec's empty sockets locked him in a sightless gaze. "You will turn to the Dark Side, Kyle Katarn, or you will die an unimaginable death, and fail to spare this innocent life any iota of mercy. And killing her will be a mercy, Kyle. Compared to what Sariss has done to her victims in the past, dismembering and beheading this child will be a mercy."

He looked, and in Nani Delun's eyes he could see the ghost of Jan Ors, crying out to him. "I can't do this," he whispered.

He felt Sariss's lips on his neck. "Pain or pleasure," she murmured to him. "I have shown you the merest tip of my abilities. Kill her, Kyle, and let me show you what love really is."

"And just in case you think you can save her…" Jerec said. Sariss backed away, and suddenly a blue wave of lightening struck Kyle full in the chest, easily throwing him to the floor. The burst was short but effective, and left Kyle gasping both in pain and in need for air.

"I have drunk from the Valley of the Jedi," Jerec said as he walked to Kyle's feet. "I have amassed power the likes of which not even the emperor could have imagined. Join me, or you will know pain."

Kyle looked up from Jerec's sardonic face, to the cold beauty of Sariss, and then at the young woman whose life rested in his hands.

The Dark Side reached, and Kyle Katarn stood wavering on the precipice.

* * *

"So you know where Jerec is?" Ekria asked. 

"Of course," Kir said. "Jerec was the Grand Inquisitor. He was a fully indoctrinated member of the New Order and answered directly to the Emperor. When he came to Coruscant with the Priors, he reactivated his old wing in the Imperial Palace. That set off most of Isard's monitors. We've been watching everything he's been doing from the _Lusankya_."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"We didn't know you," Duan pointed out. "We thought you were one of Jerec's pets."

"What changed your mind?"

"We pulled Isard's records of your companion, Kyle, and we've been watching what they were doing to him. Between your story and what they've been doing to him, we believed you," Duan said.

"So how hard will it be to get to him?"

"We walk in and walk out," Kir said with a shrug. "The hard part will be getting him away from Jerec and his friends."

"We just walk in, huh?"

Duan grinned and slipped on his red Imperial Guard helmet. In an electronically altered voice, he said, "Remember who we are, little Jedi."

Their speeder continued through the darkened skies of Coruscant, running without any lights or beacons. Kir flew with his own helmet on, and Ekria guessed he had night vision available.

Ahead, the bulk of the Imperial Palace rose darkly into the night, looking more like a mountain than any building. Built over the old Presidential Palace, the once stately structure had grown into a monstrosity of towers and administrative buildings kilometers taller than any other structure within sight. It rose so high the upper floors had to have pressured atmosphere, as it penetrated deeply into the stratosphere of the planet.

Kir guided the speeder with practiced ease toward the impossibly large structure, which continued to grow and grow, until its darkened surface blotted out everything else from view. Even then, they continued speeding toward it until at last they were close enough that Ekria could make out what appeared to be small bays for incoming speedersand air traffic.

However, they continued flying, and the bays got larger, until she realized they were large enough to hold whole freighters, much less a tiny speeder. Kir took them into one of the lower such bays and continued flying at full speed into pitch darkness.

Ekria was completely blind when she felt the speeder come to a stop. She closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. Using her sense of the two men in front of her, she was able to get a feeling for her surroundings. This allowed her to climb out of the speeder when they did without the need for assistance. She felt their satisfaction at her ability and tried to squash her pride. If she were a better Jedi, she could have seen in the dark as well as they could.

"There are thousands of hidden passages riddling the palace," Kir explained. "Duan and I were required to memorize all of them in the event we had to evacuate the emperor. There are seven separate passages that will take us to exactly where Jerec is."

"Then lead the way."

There were steps, lots of steps. And narrow hallways. And so many secret doorways Ekria had a difficult time keeping count. Nonetheless, she counted her steps methodically, marking in her mind each pause they made to open a secret passage. Not once during the whole of their journey did she sense another sentient being anywhere near. She was tempted to reach out further, but feared doing so would alert Jerec of their presence.

Suddenly, they heard a scream. It was a scream of absolute agony and horror, and was followed very shortly after by a thump. More cries came seconds later, and a woman's voice begging for someone to stop.

That's when she felt the darkness in the Force pouring out from just meters ahead. It was a darkness with Kyle Katarn's Force signature.

"We have to go now," she whispered urgently. "It's already almost too late."

"Then we go," Kir said.

He hit a point in the wall, and the hidden door slid back soundlessly to reveal a massive chamber shrouded in darkness, with the exception of the lit circle in the middle. Ekria bound out of the passage and took in everything in a single heartbeat. She saw the two dark Jedi standing on the outer edges of the circle of light, with two priors standing nearby. She saw Kyle standing in the middle with a lit lightsaber in his hands.

She saw a crumbled body in the center, holding up one hand in supplication to Kyle, while the other hand lay with the rest of the severed arm a meter away.

"Kyle!" Ekria shouted. "Don't do this!"

He looked up in her direction, though she knew he couldn't see her. She could see him, though, and the look of hopeless horror on his face. He knew. He had known exactly what he was doing when he swung the blade and severed his victim's arm. And that knowledge burned him.

"Sariss!" Jerec hissed.

The blonde left the circle of light, and suddenly Ekria lost all sense of her in the Force. Ekria knew what it was—she had simply not learned the skills to shield herself the same way. Nor had she the power to pierce such shielding. Instead, she did the only logical thing she could think of. She ran for the light. "Kyle, fight it!" she said as she ran. "You're better than this!"

* * *

"Remember what I said, Katarn," Jerec said. "Finish her, or Sariss will do it for you and I will make you beg for death!" 

Kyle stood transfixed, staring at the cauterized wound that was all that remained of young Nani Dalun's left arm. Her eyes were locked on his, red from tears of pain and anguish. She held her hand up to him, as if in prayer. In her eyes, though, he saw not just a prayer for herself, but for the baby who had already lost her father.

"Gods," he whispered, falling to his knees before her as tears sprang to his eyes. "I am so sorry. I am so sorry."

"Katarn!" Jerec shouted. "Kill her now!" Blue lightening began flickering on his fingers. Kyle stood and took a deep breath before turning to face the Dark Jedi. "Darth Vader showed me how far a Jedi could fall, and the cost of penance. You will not touch her."

Jerec roared his rage and unleashed a wall of blue death.

Kyle lifted his saber and grasped at the Force for the strength to resist. It was the most difficult thing he had ever done. The lightening continued to pour into him, even as he caught much of it on his blade. But it was too much. He was going to die.

_There is a way_, a single voice whispered to him from the air. He saw images of another era, of a younger Palpatine throwing lightening like this at another Jedi, a Jedi much stronger and even more determined than Kyle. And that Jedi had a way to deal with the lightening.

_Vaapad_, the voice whispered from the Force. _Let the Darkness flow through you and back to its source. Complete the circuit._

Kyle opened himself up fully to the Force ghosts of Jedi masters past, and let the lightening flash into him. He routed it through that dark core in himself that had severed an innocent woman's arm, and let it burst out of his other hand back onto Jerec.

Jerec's roar of anger turned into a scream of pain as he felt the brunt of his own attack and quickly let the Force lightening to die. He pulled his lightsaber and lit its ruby blade. "You will pay for this!" the Dark Jedi declared as he charged forward.

The priors watched, awaiting the time to strike. The voices of their masters flowed constantly through their connection with thegods in the crystals of their staffs. They would know when the time was right.

Their gods whispered a warning, and both Priors turned to see two crimson figures charge with blinding, near-Jedi speed. Force pikes spun and clashed with staffs in a quick flurry of exchanges. A touch of the Power, and their two attackers were flung easily back into the darkness.

The Priors stood ready for the next attack, but then looked down at their staffs when each heard a beep. There, attached to the white length of their staffs, were small explosive charges. The charges went off the very moment the priors noticed.

Nearby, Jerec and Kyle were both knocked flat by the exploding staffs. Ordinarily, the explosions would have shredded the men holding the staffs as well, but the priors were not ordinary men. However, bereft of their connection to the Celestial City, the two priors died in flames.

Outside the circle of light, Ekria was in the fight of her life. Sariss was not just a Sith apprentice. She was a powerful, fully trained Force user with just as much experience and likely even more skill than Ekria herself, and the Jedi had two painful cuts to prove it. Her attempt to get to the light had succeeded in breaking the dark spell over Kyle, but had not succeeded in her ultimate goal of just making it. Shortly before she was within range of the light, her warning sense flared and she ducked under a powerful swing of a red lightsaber.

What followed was a flurry of strikes, parries and lunges as fast as the most furious of Tallisibeth's training exercises, tempered by the unforgettable knowledge that she was fighting the person who had killed her Jake.

Darkness flared within her; Ekria smashed it down ruthlessly. Kyle's lesson taught her that much, at the very least. Still, she was facing a superior foe who very obviously could see in the dark better than she could, and was determined to keep Ekria away from the light.

A flash of red came; Ekria blocked it within a hair's breath of her face and stumbled back, losing her footing. She turned the stumble into a cartwheel and came gracefully back to her feet, only to be assaulted again. She put everything she could into her defense, but with her opponent shielding herself, Ekria could not anticipate the blows, and that cost her just enough to make her weaker.

The saber slipped through her defense and stabbed at her. She turned sideways and parried as best she could, but could not prevent the blazing heat and agony of the saber lancing her ribs. She cried out at the pain and felt her legs go weak.

Suddenly, Sariss appeared to her, her outline barely visible with the still distant glow of the lights. "Another dead Jedi," she whispered. She raised her red blade to strike, but then turned and swung down at something behind her.

With her eyes adjusting to the darkness, Ekria could make out the two silhouettes of her guardsmen escorts. The one on the left attempted to block the blow with his force pike, but Sariss was too fast and struck him down with apparent ease. Without even turning, she swung at the second guardsmen with a Force-guided strike.

Her saber struck his force pike, and sputtered away.

"What…?" she demanded, stunned.

"Cortosis," Kir's augmented voice came from behind his helmet. With speed bordering on that of the Jedi, he thrust his pike directly into Sariss's center. The pike, with its vibro-head set to maximum, cut through Sariss's middle as easily as a lightsaber would, but without any of the cauterizing effects.

"Another dead Jedi," Kir said with open contempt.

Sariss's eyes widened in pain, and then narrowed in rage as she raised her hand and struck Kir with a Force blow strong enough to send the Imperial guardsman flying back into the shadows.

"I will not die at the hands of a lackey!" Sariss screamed.

Ekria picked herself up and stumbled over to her enemy. "Then die at the hands of a Jedi," she said. Sariss turned, raising her hands again to strike with the Force, when Ekria relieved the terrible beauty of her beautiful head.

"You will die groveling," Jerec said for perhaps the fifth time. "I have tasted the Valley of the Jedi, and I am immortal!"

Kyle just gritted his teeth and blocked the next flurry of fevered blows. He realized that he had already won. By pulling himself back from the precipice, he had beaten Jerec's plan. By allowing the ghosts of the Jedi in this place to teach him, he had foiled Jerec's greatest weapon. And now, with a riposte and lunge, he had just destroyed Jerec's heart.

The dark Jedi gasped, his mouth framing a surprised "O" as his saber fell from numb hands.

Kyle pulled his sword out, and then beheaded his enemy. "Just in case," he said. He turned the blade off, and then ran to the side of Nani Delun. He ripped off her gag as she started crying again. "I am so sorry," he said. "Let me help you!"

"Don't touch me!" Nani said. "Get away from me!"

"I can't," Kyle begged. He placed a hand on her chest, and with the Force pulled her mind down into a deep, healing sleep.

He looked up to see Ekria limping toward him, followed by a crimson-cloaked Imperial Guard. "Ekria!"  
"Relax, he's an ally," Ekria said. She knelt down by Nani's side. "Oh Kyle, how could you do this? How could you let it take you that far?"

He shook his head. "I let others make the choices for me," he whispered. "And now I'm going to have to pay for those choices."

Both Jedi looked up as they felt something in the Force, and then turned to the guard. "Kir, we're going to have a lot of company in about one minute," Ekria said.

"Then let's go."

Kyle scooped Nani up in his arms and ran with Ekria and the guard into the darkness.


	32. Chap 31: The Gods of Dark

**ancient lantean**--Good old Mace. Dead, but not out. In fact, according to everything I've built into the mythos of the Jedi and ascended beings, Mace may very well be ascended. And yeah, I enjoyed Kir's ingenuity in killing priors.

**Vaderfan**--Kyle was tested like no one's business. He passed, but not without a taint of darkness that he'll carry for the rest of his life. However long that might be.

**Tilius**--Thank you.

**Yoda1976**--Thank you, as well. The Dark Side is difficult to describe. We tend not to see things in absolutes, yet that's how the Force was described in the first movies. Light or dark.

**Grayangle**--not many Crimson Guards. Most were on the Death Star with Palpatine.

**master cheif rulz**--thank you.

**Worker72**--He has been liberated, after a fashion. And yeah, he was kind of in a no win situation there.

Thanks for all the reviews this time around. According to the stats, I've got over 33 people getting alerts and am averaging almost 400 hits a chapter, so evidently people are reading!

And speaking of reading, this next chapter begins to hint at the true power not just of the Ori, but of the Force. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One: The Gods of Dark**

"They're coming for us," Luke said.

He and Mara sat on the floor with their knees pulled up to their chins and their shoulders touching. They had not spoken much in the past few days since the visit of the Teacher, but there was really no need. Mara was not a talkative person, and neither was Luke. They had said what they needed to say; and now the bond between them was so strong, the need for words seemed to have passed.

_Luke and Mara, sitting in a tree,_ Luke thought to himself.

Mara sat up and whispered, "K-i-s-s-i-n-g" and then kissed his ear.

The solid rock wall of their cell opened, and a prior stepped in. "Jedi Skywalker, Jedi Jade, you are to come with me."

Seeing no point in resisting yet, Luke and Mara rose to their feet and stepped into a hall surrounded not by Ori soldiers, but by priors, an even dozen of them. Without lightsabers, Luke knew they had no hope of defeating so many, and so he nodded to Mara and the two Jedi fell in with their captors.

They headed toward one of the ancient transport closets Sal-Solo had tricked them with. Half the priors stayed behind, the other half stepped into the cramped quarters with the two Jedi. A flash of light later, and they stepped out into a wide, low-ceilinged room with a long row of windows looking out onto a ball of white fire.

There were no other priors in this wide, empty room, nor were there any soldiers. They saw only a single figure standing before the window, waiting for them. This figure turned, but his features were lost against the light that Luke realized was the glowpoint at the center of Centerpoint Station.

Only as the figure approached did Luke get a good look at his features. His skin was the same pasty white as the priors, but instead of the standard prior's robes he wore an ornate white robe lined with gold symbols and a shoulder piece that looked almost like a crown for his whole body. His eyes were just as pale, but he wore an expression of fierceness and terrible intelligence the other priors did not.

The priors bowed. "The prisoners, Doci," they said.

"Very good," the Doci said in rich, cultured Basic. "Leave us."

The priors bowed again before turning back to the transporter. In a flash of white, Luke and Mara were alone with the Doci.

"You are the leader?" Luke asked.

The Doci made a show of examining Luke carefully, and then Mara. "You have the stench of the one we want, but you are not he," the Doci said disdainfully.

"I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi knight."

The Doci raised a hand, and an unbelievable power crushed Luke instantly to the floor. If his limbs had bent in any other way, he was sure both his legs would have snapped with the pressure. "You are a worm."

Before Mara could even move, an equally powerful force thrust her up against the low ceiling. Without obvious effort, the Doci turned back to the glowpoint. "You have killed many of the chosen of the Ori. You think this makes you equal to the power of the Ori themselves. And yet, the great power of the priors is only the weakest shadow of the Ori's power, and even that was weakened by distance and the pall of blasphemy that hangs over this galaxy. But soon, you will know the true power of the Ori."

With a negligent flip of the Doci's wrist, Mara fell to the ground and Luke picked himself up from it. "Why have the Ori come here?" Luke demanded.

The Doci turned and smiled. "The Ori have always been here. The Ori are everywhere and forever." He raised his hands to indicate the station around them. "The Ori helped build this station, although the demons who once were brethren of the Ori never knew the true purpose."

He turned away once more and raised both hands. The glowpoint suddenly flashed from purist white to the orange-red color of fire. Luke felt heat, but not a heat that would burn his skin. Rather, it was a cold heat, like what he felt when he and his father touched the Ori staff on Naboo.

Suddenly streaks of fire flashed out from the heart of the glowpoint and ran through the window into the empty room. The fingers of flame flashed around the Doci in the pattern of a globe, until the man's eyes took on the same glowing color as the fire itself.

"I am the Voice of the Ori," the Doci said in a voice suddenly compounded with itself into a chorus of many. "We have come to teach the descendents of our enemies the Path of Origin, and to destroy those who reject the path. We will wash away the sins of those who are worthy, and let them bathe in the Flames of Enlightenment to become priors of our message."

A lone hand reached out toward Luke, blistering with fire. "You, Luke Skywalker, will be a prior unto the Ori."

"No!!" Mara screamed.

The flames engulfing the Doci erupted out in a streak toward Luke, who screamed in agony. "Hallowed are the Ori," the Doci said.

* * *

Anakin Skywalker sat up in bed, his body covered in sweat. He felt a body stir beside him, and looked down at the sleeping form of Tallisibeth.

They had finally shared the night together after so many months, but here in the darkness, looking down at her, he still did not know just how to feel about it. He cared for her deeply, and was grateful for the acceptance and love she showed him. And yet, inside, he felt guilty and ashamed, as if he could see Padmé frowning at him. And, even more than that, there was that part inside that told him he did not deserve Tallisibeth, or any other happiness.

But that was not what woke him. He rose out of bed and slipped on a robe as he strode toward the small area where he meditated. He collapsed into a cross-legged position and closed his eyes, seeking the cause of his sudden distress. Once he opened his mind to the currents of the Force, he felt what was happening. Many worlds away, a spark of terrible fire that pierced through the fabric of time and space burned his son.

Anakin reacted instinctively, pulling on every ounce of power he had as he reached out across the widths of the galaxy, calling for all the help he could find. _In the name of the Force, we must help him_! he called.

Nearby, Tallisibeth shot up in bed under the power of his call. She crawled out of bed wearing only one of his shirts, and ran to his side to lend him what support she could. Over the ship, the other Jedi heard. Ferus Olin sat up and immediately sensed what was happening and joined his power without hesitation. Olana Chion, as ever by his side, did the same. Cilghal, Da'an, Darana also heard and responded. On Coruscant, as they finished wiping out yet another group of Ori soldiers to lead more refugees on the _Lusankya_, Kyle and Ekria heard and joined their power to the call.

Across the whole galaxy, those with Force sensitivity, and in some cases those who had small bits of training before the purges, heard the call. Many responded without any conscious control, knowing only that they had to respond. Others threw everything they had into the call, because they knew it was the only way the galaxy could survive.

And even in the Force itself, his call did not go unheard.

Her mind numb from the fire of the Ori, Mara at first did not sense the Force flowing into Luke. All she knew was that the one and only man she had allowed herself to feel something for was engulfed in living fire that was very slowly burning away all trace of his humanity.

But then she saw a flicker of light, and watched in shock as figures appeared in a ring around him. Each figure appeared as a transparent image surrounded by blue, almost like a holoimage. She saw a bearded man in traditional Jedi robes, and a tiny creature with a walking stick, and then even more. Only then did she sense the incredible power of Anakin's Force call for help, and the response that flowed directly into Luke from across the galaxy. Without hesitation, she added her own voice to the chorus and her own strength to the power, giving Luke everything she had and more.

"I love you!" she called into the stream.

* * *

Luke never knew pain.

He thought he did. With the foolish arrogance of ignorant youth, he thought he had suffered. When he looked upon the smoking remnants of the aunt and uncle who had raised him, he thought he knew anguish and loss. With the severing of his hand on Bespin, he thought he knew physical pain and agony. With the newfound knowledge that his father was the Dark Lord of the Sith and possibly one of the most hated men in the galaxy, Luke thought he knew the wrenching hurt of a torn soul.

Luke thought he knew pain. He was wrong, until now.

Now, with the fire of a million angry gods coursing through every atom of his body and his soul, ripping away his humanity while simultaneously leaving seeds of their cold fire in the place of his soul, Luke Skywalker knew pain. He screamed until his voice broke and then screamed some more. He screamed until his lungs had no air, and then continued to scream without. He burned in the flames of enlightenment, which meant to rape and burn away everything that was Luke Skywalker, and leave only a servant of a race of dark gods bent on total conquest.

Luke knew pain, and he wished more than anything for death, for an end. All his Jedi training, all his hopes and fears, even his newfound love for Mara, all of it ceased to matter or even exist. Only the pain existed, and its only escape was a death the Ori would never grant.

He saw things that no human was ever meant to see, a plane of existence drenched in fire. He saw terrible, angry faces in the flames, sneering at him as they reached out to consume his soul. He saw that the glow point of the station, and in fact the station as a whole, was built as a conduit to elevate the once humans into what became the Ori, and that the window such an elevation created could be opened both ways. What he felt now was the true power of the Ori through the Doci. What he felt now were the Ori themselves, in all of their terrible power, and he trembled. He realized then that the priors they had faced were but the weakest shadow of the Ori's will, limited by distance and the filtering effects of the Force itself. Had the priors been in their own galaxy, not all the Jedi together could have withstood even a single one.

Suddenly he felt something in the heart of the pain and fire that had not been there a heartbeat before. It was a sparkle of blue light, a twinkle more than a pulse, almost lost amid the roar and anguish of the dark gods. From this tiny flicker of blue light, Luke heard an old, beloved voice whispering: "_The Force will be with you. Always._"

And then he saw another twinkle of blue light, and another voice: "You are my son, Luke. And I give you all I have. Take it, and live!"

And then a third light, stronger in its own way even than the first two, a large pulse that shoved the fire and the pain rudely aside as a voice called to him: "I love you!"

There were more blue lights, coming in pairs and groups, all coming together in a solid beam of light to push away the fire. He suddenly realized what it was, and reached out with both mind and hands for the tendrils of the Force his father was sending him. He grasped the stream of the Force and pulled it into himself. Even with all the power of the Force, though, he could only stop the raping of his cells by the Ori fire; he could not completely reverse the damage already done.

And in the ecstasy of the Force, he saw many things. He saw another, distant plane of beings both ancient and wise, but also stern in their beliefs. "We cannot interfere," they said to him.

He saw expanses of space beyond that of his galaxy. He saw a race of baleful creatures intent on conquest of their stars, unknowing of the threat of the Ori that could so easily sweep them away. He saw other galaxies, those burning under the oppression of the Ori's fire, and still others spared that fire. And from one of those free galaxies, he felt a spark of recognition, and determination. "We hear you," this distant spark seemed to say to him. "We will aid you as we can!"

Finally his mind returned to the Doci, and the fire still grasping at him. With the Force as his ally, Luke pushed the fire away, until at last it left him and he fell to the floor, his whole body steaming from its heat. Nearby, the Doci gaped, indignant. "Blasphemy of blasphemies!" he snarled. "You have rejected the Flames of Enlightenment! You have dared sully the gods themselves! You are a demon!"

Luke pushed himself to his feet. He did not notice that his clothes had been completely burned away, nor that his skin had a sallow, pale complexion not too dissimilar from that of the priors themselves. He knew part of the Ori lingered in him, but he accepted that as the price for his arrogance. And in exchange for that price, he had gained mastery in the Force.

Behind him, the Force ghosts of all the Jedi in history faded out of view, but remained in spirit. He felt their power and their guidance, as surely as he felt his father's power and the power of the living Jedi pouring into him.

As the Force had with Kyle on Coruscant, it brought forth another venerable master of old, who whispered of a power few were strong enough to embrace, but which in its purest form could challenge the power even of the Doci.

As the Doci raised his hands and summoned the power of his gods, Luke Skywalker raised his hands and summoned the power of the Force, and both unleashed their power simultaneously.

Fire was met by a shower of green lightening pouring out of Luke's hands. The Doci's face registered shock that anyone even dared challenge him, much less do so successfully. The shock increased when Luke not only pushed his fire back, but then overwhelmed the Doci with green lightening. This was Electric Judgment, a Force power so rare that prior to Luke, only a dozen Jedi throughout history were known to have mastered it. Even those Jedi who had mastered it never wielded it with such power as Luke did at that moment, for Luke was not just a Jedi, but he was now a conduit for the whole Jedi Order, past, present and future, serving as the weapon of the Force itself against the most dangerous enemy the galaxy had ever known.

The Doci screamed curses as the lightening flashed across his body and pushed him against the window, and then through the window, out of the conical mountain within the hollow center of the station, and into the glow point itself. His body disappeared with the flames, and with a sudden white flash the Ori fire disappeared, the glow point returned to its normal white glow, and Luke Skywalker collapsed naked to the floor.

"Luke!" Mara screamed as she ran to his side. She placed her hands on his skin, then pulled them back from the heat there. "Luke, are you okay?"

He looked up at her, and she couldn't help but rear back. His face was pale, only a few shades less than that of a prior, and his eyes held just a hint of milky white over them. His voice, when he spoke, was broken and raspy with the result of vocal cords permanently damaged. But what he said left no doubt in Mara's mind that her Luke had survived: "I always thought when you saw me naked, I'd get to see you naked too. This isn't fair."

Crying in relief, she pulled his trembling and still too-hot body onto her lap and held him there tightly. "Don't you worry, Farmboy," she said between her tears. "When we get out of here, I'm gonna give you a show you won't ever forget."

"I can't wait." He smiled as he closed his eyes and fell unconscious in her arms.

Thanks for reading! D M


	33. Chap 32: Lusankya Rising

Wow, I got some reviews for this last chapter! Thanks to everyone for the kind words, it's what we fanfic writers live for.

**Shawn**--Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying!

**Mackon**--Thanks. Just thanks! ;)

**Worker72**--Good question. I've never seen a female Doci. The Orici, yes, but never a Prior. Likely he was just going to kill her. But we'll never know now.

**grayangle**--indeed.

**master cheif rulz**--Thank you.

**Tilius**--Thank you.

**Ancient lantean**--It will come. He sensed a couple of galaxies. No Ascended from the SG verse, but you never know who else migth show up.

**Yoda1976**--You hit the nail on the head. But they are not without their own power.

This next chapter just overflows with the cool factor. Not only does it have a great cameo, but just look at the title and you know it's going to rock. Hope you enjoy the reading as much as I did the writing!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Two: _Lusankya_ Rising**

"Do you think we were able to help Luke?" Ekria asked.

She and Kyle were standing off to the side of a large loading bay as a line of thousands of civilians in possession of nothing but the clothes on their backs walked slowly aboard the _Lusankya_.

"I don't know," Kyle admitted. "I hope so."

It had been four days since Kyle's test and one more day since they felt the tremor in the Force from Anakin's quest to save Luke. Since that time, they had challenged and fought six large groups of Ori soldiers and four priors, and saved over twelve thousand civilian refugees. Though Kir Kanos had lost his partner when Duan fell to Sariss's blade, he had gained an increasingly large group of militia willing to fight for him to free other civilians. Many were armed not just with Imperial blasters, but also with Ori staves. The staves were especially effective against the armor the faithful Ori soldiers wore.

The ship was beginning to fill, and soon it would be time for them to attempt their escape. However, none of that really mattered to them.

"Have you talked to her since you found her baby?" Ekria asked. She did not need to specify who she spoke about.

Kyle shook his head. "What would I say? 'Here, I found your baby. Does that make up for cutting your arm off?'"

"What are you going to do, Kyle?"

He looked up at the genuine concern in her face, and the pain there. He reached up and caressed her cheek. "I may be self-centered and arrogant, but I'm not so blinded by my own problems that I didn't notice yours. I am sorry about Jake. More than you know. He was a better man than I, a better Jedi."

She took his hand and nodded. "Thank you. This has cost us both. Me, the man I loved. You…"

"A part of my soul," Kyle finished for her. "And I don't think I'll ever get it back. Good old Darthy was right. The Dark Side was worse than the Ori, because of what it made me do."

There was a commotion nearby, and the two Jedi turned and watched Kir walking toward them, resplendent in his guardsman uniform, but without his helmet. "My militia freed an entire tower. We have another fifty thousand people coming."

"Fifty thousand?" Ekria said.

"When we attacked, the civilians turned on the soldiers hand-to-hand. We took out almost five thousand soldiers with a force of only a thousand militia and the freed civilians."

Kyle stared at Kir a moment. "You know, at that rate, it makes me wonder if we shouldn't be trying to take back the planet instead of just evacuating it."

"We can't risk it with those Ori ships in orbit," Ekria said. "Ground forces can be picked off too easy from orbit, and we've seen the Ori have no problem wiping out civilian populations."

"The _Lusankya_ is a match for any three Ori attack ships," Kir said. "It's those destroyers that would be deadly. If there were none when you came in…"

"That doesn't mean there are none now," Ekria pointed out. "In fact, with the death of Jerec and the losses of their soldiers on the surface, it would surprise me if they don't have some in orbit right now."

"It's certainly something to think about," Kir said. "In the meantime, I have more refugees to oversee."

"I'll help," Ekria offered.

Kyle said nothing, and watched as the two of them left before he too turned and started walking. He did not realize where he was going until he looked up and found himself on the Deck 87 medical ward. It was one of dozens of clinics stationed around the ship. He stepped through the doors and was greeted by a 2-1B droid. "You are here to see Ms. Delun?" the droid asked, recognizing him easily.

"Is she awake?"

"Yes. You may go in, but I again must stress that upon her request you must leave."

"Of course."

Nani Delun sat in a corner of the otherwise empty medcenter breastfeeding her baby with one arm while intently studying the synthflesh of her new one. She looked up at Kyle with a blank expression. "Why are you here?" she asked in a flat voice.

"I don't know," Kyle admitted. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her without invitation, but stared at the floor. "One-Bee did a good job on your arm."

"It's still just machinery," Nani said. "Kaylin can still tell the difference. I accidentally squeezed her too hard with it this morning and she cried."

"I'm sorry."

"So you say."

Kyle's eyes lifted to the baby in Nani's arms. The child's eyes were closed as she contentedly drank, her hands gently cupping the breast as she did so. It was the single most beautiful thing Kyle had ever seen, and he had to divert his eyes to the floor again as he felt the tears well up.

"They must have really scrambled your head," Nani said at last as she studied him with a dispassionate expression. "Like those who got 'educated' by the Ori. You're just messed up inside."

"Yes," Kyle said. "I gave up a fight I couldn't give up. Instead of dying, I let myself touch the Dark Side of the Force." He pointed to her arm. "And that's what happened."

He looked up at the woman whom he maimed. "I have some things I need to say. I've needed to say them for a long time, but there's no one else to say them to. You don't even really need to listen. I just need to talk. Is that okay?"

Nani said nothing.

And so, Kyle started talking. He talked about growing up on his family farm on Sulon, about how his mother was killed by a malfunctioning droid and how he enrolled in the Imperial Academy and became a decorated stormtrooper, only to turn his back on the Empire when he discovered the Imperial treachery that led to the death of his father in a faked Rebel raid. And then he started talking about Jan Ors. He mentioned the connection he felt for her the first time he saw her, staring down the barrel of an Imperial blaster ready to kill her and her whole team. He spared her then, and when he discovered how his father really died, he joined her in her quest for freedom with the Rebel Alliance.

In all of their adventures, though, and in everything they had been through, there was one thing Kyle had never done. "I never told her how much I loved her," he said. "I never let her know how much her friendship meant to me, and how I wanted to be so much more to her. And when I came here, and saw what had happened, I knew she had died. She died before I could say it to her. And it was my fault, since it never seemed the right time. We were always fighting the Empire, always planning or training. But I know that's a lie. We…no, I, could have made the time. To at least let her know she was the most precious person I had ever known, and the best friend I ever had.

"I guess that when I realized she was gone, a part of me gave up. When those Dark Jedi cornered me, I should have gone over the parapet after Ekria. Or died fighting. Or even died in Sariss's torture chamber. Instead, I gave up a little more. And by the time they brought me to you, there was so little of me left. And you heard what Jerec said. He would have tortured us both, that much I do know. But instead of fighting for your life, I gave up just a little more, not realizing there was nothing left after that."

"And then you turned around and saved me," Nani said, still without any emotion in her voice. "Are you looking for forgiveness?"

"Maybe, or perhaps absolution. Or, more like penance. I need to make penance, Nani. Somehow, I need to make this up to you. Not just for your sake, but for mine. I was a Jedi knight, but I can't call myself that right now."

"So what do you want to do?"

He studied her and her daughter, and as he did so he felt a spark in the child, a promise of something extraordinary. "I want to be your protector, yours and Kaylin's," he said, realizing only now what the Force had been telling him since Jerec's death. "I want to remain by your side after this war is settled, and until I know for sure you and your child are safe. And then, when she is old enough, I want to teach your daughter to be a better Jedi than I ever was."

Nani looked down at the suckling child, and then back at Kyle, her eyes wide. "She is not…"

Kyle smiled sadly. "The Force is strong in her. Perhaps that's why the Priors picked you, knowing your loss would twist her toward the Dark Side."

"I won't let you take her."

"I won't take her," Kyle promised. "She will be by your side the whole time. I won't whisk her away to some far-off temple with high permacrete walls. I will be there with the two of you the whole time. Perhaps in a different home, perhaps a different city if you desire, but close enough to keep watch over her, keep you and her safe. Perhaps on Sulon, on my old farm."

Kaylin began fussing, indicating her food source had run low. Kyle looked away as Nani switched sides and adjusted her shirt accordingly. "I should hate you, you know," she said.

"Yes."

Nani looked down at the child cradled in her artificial arm. "Her father was a very good man, but he was also an officer for the Empire. He told me some of the things he had to do, against people who didn't deserve it. He believed in the New Order, but felt guilty over the deaths he caused. He was a good man, but a rebel like you would call him a murderer, just like he would have called you a traitor." She stopped talking, as if unsure what exactly she was trying to say.

"You hurt me," she finally continued.

Kyle pushed the chair away and knelt down before her, his face just centimeters from the baby's. "I swear by the Force that I will never harm you again. I swear that I will give my life gladly to protect you and your daughter. I swear this willingly. All I need from you is your permission."

"Permission?" Nani laughed a bittersweet laugh. "Me, giving permission to a Jedi knight to be my personal guardian angel?"

"Yes."

She looked into his eyes for a very long moment. "My husband died trying to defend me too, Kyle Katarn."

"Whatever he had to do professionally, it takes a good man to die for those he loves."

"Are you a good man, Kyle?"

His eyes wet, Kyle shook his head. "No, but I swear I'm trying with all my heart to become one."

She stared down at him for the longest time, as if the Force ran through her as well, and she was using that power to peer into the depths of his soul. She did not smile when she reached out and gently traced the line of his unkempt beard, but her words had lost some of the cold steel behind them. "Then you have my permission, Kyle Katarn, Jedi Knight, to be the guardian of my child and me."

Kyle bowed, and with a shuddering sigh, whispered, "Thank you."

Suddenly, the whole room shook. Kyle looked up in alarm, and then reached out with the Force. "They've found us," he said. "We're under attack!"

"Then you'd better go," Nani Delun said. "Go defend me, Kyle."

He looked down at her, and then grinned. "I will. Be safe."

After he was gone, One-Bee rolled over to her and said: "Are you in need of any assistance?"

Nani looked down at her baby, still nestled in the crook of her artificial arm and suckling hungrily. "No, I think I'll be all right, now," she said. And then, Nani Delun bowed her head and began to weep not just for all she had lost, and but also for the tortured soul of the man who had in part taken it away from her.

* * *

Colonel Soontir Fel was in the middle of the command deck giving orders when Kyle arrived. "They've found us?"

Fel turned, saw who spoke, and then nodded. "They have. They're bombarding the surface to get to us. From what I understand, the Galactic Museum has been utterly vaporized. There are historians across the galaxy crying even as we speak."

Kyle crossed the bridge until he stood by the colonel's side. He saw obvious preparations for the ship to lift off. "We'll wait until they have removed enough of the surface to ease the transition," Fel said. "And to get as many people on board as possible. The thrust from the launch cradle and the main drive engines will level everything for a hundred kilometers at least, maybe two."

"Can you use me?'

"Frankly I don't know," Fel said. "What are Jedi good for on a bridge?"

Kyle couldn't help but grin. "I'm not sure myself. But I'm also a former stormtrooper and a fair pilot."

"A pilot?" Fel asked with one raised brow. "Perhaps. In the meantime, we'll need more assistance on guns than anything else. We've slaved our main turbolaser batteries to the bridge due to the shortage of manpower. Feel free to man a gunner station."

"Yes, sir!" Kyle said, snapping off a sharp Imperial salute before running to one of the aforementioned stations.

Below, Kir and Ekria were motioning the long line of refugees to run for everything they were worth. Overhead, the tunnel they used rained debris down on them. It was a temporary tunnel anyway, built to give easier access to the ship for refugees.

Ekria's job was not just to shepherd refugees, though. "Kir! The three in red, right by you!"

As if he could also sense their presence in the Force, Kir immediately turned to the three Ekria meant and charged them with his force pike. Behind him, a dozen militia joined him.

The three threw off their cloaks and raised the shortened staves hidden underneath. Civilians screamed at the sight of the Ori soldiers. Before Ekria or the militia had need to join the fight, however, the three soldiers were dead by Kir's force pike.

"All right, show's over, get moving!" Ekria shouted.

The line started to thin out slightly when a blinding flash of white light burst through the ceiling over the tunnel and rained debris down on all those not already aboard the ship. Ekria shielded her eyes and stumbled back from the blast. A moment later, she felt Kir's hand on her arm. "That's it, we can't wait any longer," he said.

She looked back at the unstable pile of rubble that blocked the last of the refugees, and then forced her eyes away. "You're right. Let's go."

Kir grabbed his comlink. "Fel, this is Kanos. We've got all the civilians aboard we can. Let's go."

"Acknowledged."

As Ekria and Kir ran, the first three cargo bay doors began closing, each heavily shielded. They emerged into the cavernous landing bay of the ship itself and saw the milling hoards there. "Everyone needs to lie down!" Kir shouted. His militia began echoing the orders. "This is a starship, and we are about to lift off. If there is any break in inertial dampeners, you may be hurt if you are standing up. Lie down flat on your backs or stomachs, and do not move."

As the thousands and thousands of refugees began to comply, Kir and Ekria ran toward the bridge. When they arrived, they found Kyle already at a gunner's station. "If that isn't a job for a Jedi, I don't know what is," Ekria said.

"And for me as well too," Kir said as he nodded at Fel. They relieved two bridge crewmen whose skills could be better used elsewhere. But, with nothing to shoot at yet, all they had to do was turn and watch as another Ori barrage broke through to the reinforced cavern housing the _Lusankya_. Massive pieces of debris fell onto the hull of the ship, only to bounce harmlessly away.

"Activate ray and particle shields," Fel called out. "All cradle repulsors to full. All ship repulsors to full. Bring the main drive online."

His orders echoed across the bridge and the behemoth began to shudder, and then lift. Suddenly the whole ship rocked under a blast. "Direct hit," a voice announced. "Shields holding."

"Not a destroyer, then," Kyle said. "That's a good sign."

Another blast hit, then a third, and suddenly sunlight flooded the bridge as the _Lusankya_ broke through the surface. "We are reading massive ground troop movements all around us," a technician said from his sunken post. "We are receiving fire from the surface."

"That will be dealt with in moments," Fel said. "Orient the ship for escape vector, and then bring the main drive and cradle booster drives online."

Through the miracles of artificial gravity, Kyle felt nothing more than a tickle in his stomach as the entire ship flipped up on its heel, with its nineteen kilometer distant nose pointing directly at the sky. Without a moment's hesitation, the whole ship began to rumble as the main drives ignited.

Below, hundreds of thousands of Ori soldiers vaporized instantly under the overwhelming plasma of thirteen separate drive nozzles, each as large as a frigate in their own right. Whole buildings ceased to exist, and the backwash of the thrust rushed over the surface of the planet for over two hundred square kilometers, killing everything in a wave of fire. Ekria closed her eyes and fought back a tear as she felt not just soldiers die, but civilians as well. So many people.

Kyle did not notice or care. Through the transparisteel windows of the bridge, in the far distance, he could see the faint silhouettes of Ori ships in orbit, waiting for them. "They're not going to let us go without a fight," he said.

"Then let's give them one," Fel said. "All ahead, full!"

The _Lusankya_ surged upward with the inevitable force of a hundred thousand billion kilograms of thrust. Sensing their targets approaching, Kyle turned his attention back to the batteries of turbolasers slaved to his station. The others did as well. "I got the one on the right," Kyle said.

"I'll take the center," Ekria said.

Kir nodded, knowing to target the left.

Three slaved sets of 1,400 turbolasers each took aim on the three ships, each set targeting with the precision only made capable through computer precision and Jedi instinct. Before the _Lusankya_ was even out of the stratosphere, it began firing back at the Ori ships in orbit. Fourteen hundred bolts struck each of the three Ori ships in perfect time, wave after wave of green destructive energy many times what even an Imperial class star destroyer could deliver.

The Ori attack ships were lethal weapons in and of themselves, each almost the size of an Imperial II class ISD. But just as an ISD was dwarfed by the _Lusankya_, so too was the comparison in firepower. Kyle's target listed as its shields began to buckle under the onslaught, and the white ball of light in its center began to blink, and then faded entirely. Quickly, the ship itself folded under the barrage of turbolaser blasts.

Nearby, Ekria's target suffered a similar fate, followed shortly after by Kir's. With no discernable targets, the three turned and watched as the bridge cleared the atmosphere, 19 kilometers behind the nose of the vessel.

"All batteries prepare to target debris!" Fel said. "We don't have any maneuvering room at all."

The batteries opened up on the debris that crowded the skies over Coruscant, burning away a path for the massive ship.

Naturally, it was while the dreadnought was perched precariously between the remnants of a Golan II orbital defense station and what appeared to be the keel of a destroyed ISD that five Ori destroyers appeared from hyperspace.

"Oh Sithspit," Kyle muttered.

The five ships immediately fired. Five beams of white death streaked across the heavens toward the _Lusankya_, and promptly impacted the debris of the defense station and the keel of the dead destroyer, and thousands of other pieces of debris floating in orbit.

"All batteries open fire," Fel ordered. "Helm, evasive maneuvers. Get us out of here!"

The super star destroyer's nose lifted sharply and the main drives burned to full power as the ship began flying out of the debris field. Kyle kept firing at the Ori destroyers, but having seen what those ships could do, he had little hope. Just one of their shots would be enough to pierce the hypermatter reactor and destroy the ship.

"More ships coming out of hyperspace!" a voice called. "Unknown configuration!"

The ships emerging looked almost amphibian in design, each with a rounded forward hull and two large perpendicular fins in the aft section set aside two thrusters. Four of them emerged from hyperspace almost within the debris field itself, exhibiting incredible navigational control Kyle had never seen before.

And then he saw the impossible. The four ships took up positions in front of the _Lusankya_ just as the Ori vessels achieved a clear line of fire. The five Ori destroyers fired directly at the alien vessels.

As the crew of the Lusankya watched on the holographic tactical display, the new vessels absorbed the impact of the five ships on rounded, transparent shields. But then they saw the exchange was not without cost. Two of the alien vessels began listing immediately while two others returned fire with an unknown beam weapon.

"Fire on the destroyers," Fel ordered. "All weapons. Fire missiles. Fire everything we have."

The bright white beams of the alien vessels were joined by thousands of green turbolaser bolts and missiles from the _Lusankya_. The sheer power of the onslaught physically pushed the attacking Ori ships out of position. One of the five on the end began to darken as the combined shields weakened.

"Another ship is entering orbit," a technician called across the bridge.

Without easing up on his firing, Kyle let his eyes follow the signal on his monitor and stared as the _Lusankya's_ sister ship, the _Executor_, emerged from hyperspace flanked by two dozen ISDs. At least, Kyle thought it was the _Executor_. The profile of the ship was completely changed, with the nose rebuilt from a dagger point into a shape resembling the handle of a blaster.

Then Kyle saw the impossible. A massive green beam lanced out from the nose of the _Executor_ and impacted on the collected shields of the Ori ships, in conjunction with thousands upon thousands of targeted turbolaser blasts. The ships on either end of the grouping of five blackened, and then exploded outward.

As if coordinating efforts, the alien ships all assumed frontal positions and also joined the barrage. Their weapons, fired from a large forward cannon, impacted the shields with a power output not very far below that of the _Executor_.

The _Executor_ fired its superlaser again, and between the combined fire of the super laser, the four alien vessels, and the _Lusankya_, the three remaining ships darkened and then died in balls of fire.

A moment later, a hologram appeared in the center of the _Lusankya_'s bridge. "This is Anakin Skywalker, Supreme Commander of the Galactic Alliance, to the commander of the _Lusankya_."

"This is Colonel Soontir Fel, Commander Skywalker, in command of the _Lusankya_. Thank you for your assistance."

"We have come to liberate Coruscant, Colonel Fel. We were unaware of the _Lusankya_, however, or of your new allies."

"They're a mystery to us as well," Fel said. "The alien craft arrived after we were under fire and were instrumental in our survival. Whoever they are, we owe them our lives."

"I see. We will attempt to open communications with these newcomers. In the meantime, please stay in orbit. Are there priors on the surface?"

"Commander, this is Katarn," Kyle said, stepped forward. "There are still a hundred or so priors spread around the planet, but their forces are getting thin, and the populace has been rising against them. Do you have Ferus aboard?"

"Yes, he will be leading the ground forces. I take it you wish to join him?"

"Yes."

"And Ekria and Lo'Gann?"

"I'm here," Ekria said. "Jake did not survive. Jerec and his dark Jedi were here. We've dealt with them, however."

The hologram nodded. "So that is what I felt. I am very sorry for your loss, Jedi Ekria. Colonel Fel, please come aboard to discuss the status of your ship. Ekria and Katarn will escort you."

Fel turned and shared a long stare with Kir before nodding. "Colonel Kanos, you have the bridge. Miss Jedi?"

"All right. Kyle?"

"Yeah, I'll ride over and catch a shuttle down to join Ferus. He's probably sending Scout, Darana and Da'an at least. Olana too, probably. We'll have a regular Jedi party down there."

As their shuttle left the _Lusankya_, they could see hundreds of drop ships from the Alliance fleet heading toward the planetary surface. From the pilot's seat, Soontir Fel laughed. "The name has changed, but that looks very much like on Imperial operation to me."

Beside him, Kyle shrugged. "The Empire had the biggest toys," he said. "The Rebel Alliance didn't really have good tools for a planetary invasion. We were defenders generally, not attackers."

"Are you trying to bait me, Katarn?"

"I've seen both sides, that's all. I imagine the Commander is going to offer you a ship, possibly even the _Lusankya_. I would. But whatever it looks like, the Alliance is NOT the Empire. There is a civilian government, and it's headed by Princess Leia Organa Skywalker. And she's a Jedi, so she'll know if you're planning a coup."

"I am a soldier, not a politician," Fel said. "I defend my people."

"Yeah, I know."

The shuttle, when it finally docked, was met by Grand Admiral Piett. Fel saw the distinctive white uniform and the face behind it, hesitated a moment, and then snapped to attention and saluted.

"Colonel Fel," Piett said, returning the salute crisply.

"Admiral Piett," Fel said.

"Firmus, please," the admiral said, holding out a hand. Fel took it hesitantly.

"I am astounded at what you were able to do with the _Lusankya_," Piett said with genuine warmth. "I would have given anything to see the look on the enemy faces when you ignited the main drives." He chuckled at the thought. "The commander especially is eager to meet you. He's in a debriefing right now, but will see you shortly." Piett nodded to Kyle and Ekria. "The debriefing is actually for you, Master Jedi. He requests you join him in his conference room immediately."

The two Jedi nodded and left, leaving the two officers alone in the docking bay. "So, Firmus," Fel said, "tell me about the Treaty of Naboo, and Supreme Commander Skywalker."

* * *

Rather than meet the Jedi together, Anakin saw Ekria first while Kyle waited alone in the antechamber to the room. When she left the conference room forty minutes later, she saw Kyle waiting and nodded. Her eyes and nose were red, but the expression on her face made Kyle think that perhaps the meeting, however it went, was exactly what she needed.

He felt a mental summons and stepped into the conference room. Anakin sat at a small round table in front of an entire wall of transparisteel that gave a spectacular view of the damaged planet below. "Please join me," he said to Kyle.

Kyle sat down, and waited. Anakin was staring at him without any outward expression. It was an intense regard, as if he were looking into Kyle's soul. Finally, Katarn sagged in his seat. "You were right," he said at last. "About the Dark Side."

Anakin nodded, and then reached underneath the table to remove a flimsiplast. Kyle could see an officer's face, and the name Delun. "I spoke to Lieutenant Delun regarding you a few minutes before you and Ekria arrived."

Kyle tried to hide his surprise. "How did you even know about…Lieutenant Delun?"

"You didn't realize she was an officer?" Anakin said, genuinely surprised. "She was on extended medical leave because of her baby, but prior to that she was a tactical specialist at Fleet Headquarters. And I knew because I could feel what had happened to you the moment we arrived in orbit."

Kyle leaned back and tried to figure out if that changed anything.

"It doesn't change a thing," Anakin said, as if reading his mind. "When I look into your eyes, Katarn, I see that you have touched your darkness. Once you touch that part of yourself, you can never seal it back up."

"Will it ever get any easier to look in the mirror?" Kyle said, surprised to hear his voice break.

Anakin shook his head. "It hasn't yet for me. Every time I look in the mirror, I can see an echo of Darth Vader, and he chills me just as he must have chilled his victims. But that Darkness is in everyone, Kyle. And I will tell you this, my friend. I fell harder and faster than you. And where you were able to stop and drag yourself back to the light, I kept falling until there was nothing left. It took my son's love to save me. But you, Kyle, saved yourself."

"But at what cost?"

"The cost of living the rest of your life to protect others," Anakin said, without a hint of pity or reprisal. "As I said, I spoke with Lieutenant Delun before you and Ekria arrived. She told me about your last conversation. I know what you promised her."

Kyle opened his mouth to protest, but Anakin waived him silent. "I am not going to make you renege on your promise, Kyle. In fact, the Force tells me it was what had to happen. So after this war, and even during its duration when need arises, I give you formal leave to provide for Nani Delun's protection, and the protection of her child, in any way required."

Kyle tried to hide his shock, but it was hard. "Thank you," he said. Then he looked down at an offered hand. He took it numbly.

"What you faced on Coruscant has made you a better Jedi, Kyle," he said. "You faced your Darkness, and you beat it. You have my thanks, and my respect. Effective immediately, you are granted the rank of Jedi Knight, with all duties, responsibilities and privileges therein. That includes the nominal alliance rank of general." The former Darth Vader grinned. "Just please don't order any destroyers to crash into each other."

Kyle couldn't help but laugh. "Well, okay. This time."

"And now," Anakin said, "I believe our new friends are due to pay us a visit any moment."

"How do you know?"

"Call it a hunch."

There was a gong-like sound of displaced air, and a flash of whitejust like when the Ori servants used their transporter on Naboo. However, instead of priors, the three creatures standing before Anakin and Kyle were diminutive beings, with oversized heads and eyes, and tiny gray bodies. They looked not too dissimilar from Bith, but with smaller, almost humanoid mouths.

"You are Supreme Commander Skywalker of the Galactic Alliance?" the leader of the three said. His—or, judging by their naked bodies and lack of genitalia, its—voice was nasal and flat, which was odd considering they did not appear to have noses.

"I am. And who do I have the honor of addressing?"

"I am Thor, commander of the Asgard," the creature said. He stood perhaps up to Anakin's navel. "We heard a call for assistance from another named Skywalker, and realized your galaxy had come under attack from the Ori. Although for many reasons we are unable to provide you with more ships than what we have, nonetheless we offer these ships and our services to aid you."

Anakin stood, took two steps, and then knelt down until his face was even with Thor's. "On behalf of the Alliance I gratefully accept your assistance and welcome you to our galaxy."

"Any chance we could take a look at those shields of yours?" Kyle said.

Thor looked over Anakin's shoulder and blinked. "Yes, I believe that can be arranged."


	34. Chap 33: The Perils of Luke and Mara

**ancient lantean**--I todl you they'd come. But yes, this is 150+ years before the events of Stargate: SG-1. The Asgard don't even discuss their cloning problems. That's another story entirely...

**Til**ius--I promise I won't exterminate the Asgard race in this story. Everyone else will die, but not the Asgard. ;)

**Yoda1976**--So tell me how you really feel? ;)

**Worker72**--The Asgard do seem a bit free with Earth, but I suppose they feel indebted in a way. As toward helping the GFFA, I would have to argue there is a difference between a newly post-industrial world of nation-states and an eons-old galactic civilization. Just a thought...but the SG-1 writers did eventually decide what to do with the Asgard--Kill them all!!!!! Bastards. The Asgard deserved better. Oh well. Sorry for the rant and thanks for reading!

**Shawn**--Thank you. Wookiepedia has also been invaluable. Sadly, Anakin did have his scars removed because he had no skin. They had to graft new skin all over his body on Mon Calamari.

**Master cheif rulz**--They made it. Glad you enjoyed.

**Pie RULES**--Thank you. The Ori will be facing a challenge they did not believe possible, but not for a few chapters yet. Have to have dramatic build-up to the final battle, after all.

**Guardian Dimension**--I'm thrilled you're enjoying it, but I hope you didn't hurt yourself reading. ;) There is still more to come, and hopefully it will make it all worth it.

Well, I had a lot of reviews this last chapter, I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. Now for the continuing adventures of Luke and Mara. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Three: The Perils of Luke and Mara (Mainly Mara, If You Ask Her)**

"Luke Skywalker, you are one heavy son of a gundark!" Mara said. This came after a long, difficult attempt to drag the unconscious Jedi across the floor of the conical mountain control room and away from the glowing ball of heat and light that burned at the exact center of Centerpoint Station.

Mara gave up after getting Luke to the far wall and stopped to catch her breath and calm herself down. She had no lightsaber; she had no weapons of any kind. And from somewhere nearby, she could hear voices shouting in alarm. It was not a good place to be.

What was frustrating, however, was that she had been in situations nearly as bad on more than one occasion. She had infiltrated enemy organizations so deeply that any discovery would have resulted in her immediate death. Yet at no time, even when her cover was compromised, did her heart beat so hard, or her thoughts shatter and break so easily, as they did right now.

And the one person who she knew could help her was laid out on the floor as pale as a corpse, and just as heavy, and was the main reason for the problem in the first place. "You stupid farmboy," she whispered as she stared down at him. "What have you done to me?"

The transporter flashed and the door opened. Mara stood and summoned the Force to engage in whatever defense she could. Instead of an Ori prior, she saw Thracken Sal-Solo and Rond Olarin, aka Ronas. Both men carried heavy Imperial repeater blasters, and Ori staves.

Mara relieved each man of his blaster and stave with a flick of her wrist before they even realized where she was. "You are a dead man, Thracken," she said as she Force-pulled a stave to her hand and took a bead on his head.

Thracken froze and turned a pale shade of green. "I didn't think Jedi were supposed to murder in cold blood."

"I've been an assassin a lot longer than I've been a Jedi," Mara snapped back.

"I'm sorry, I had no choice!" Thracken pleaded. "The Doci can read minds, there was no way anyone could have tried to betray him. But the Priors are screaming mad, so something good must have happened."

"Luke killed the Doci," Mara said, relaxing marginally. "Can either of you get us off Centerpoint?"

"Yeah, for what good it would do with an interdiction field up," Olarin said.

"I'll worry about that later," Mara said. She pointed to Luke. "Pick him up."

Both men started to move, but froze, staring at the prone Jedi. Then she felt the stirring of his mind against hers, and turned to see him slowly sitting up. A little of his color was returning, but his skin still looked terribly pale. "I know how to take down the interdiction field," Luke said as he sat up.

Mara immediately knelt down to help him, wincing against the amount of support he still had to lean on her for. "You're not in much shape to do anything," she said.

"It still has to be done, and I'm the only one who can do it," Luke said. He tapped his head. "It's all up here, Mara. The Ori tried to destroy my soul and fill me with their power and knowledge. They failed on the first part, but not the second." His eyes had a crazed, distant look. "It's starting to fade, some of it, but there is still so much. I know what they are, and I know what they want, and what they can do."

"That's nice, dear. Come on, boys, let's get the master of all knowledge here in the transporter."

The two men came and took over supporting Luke, and the four of them moved toward the closet. Just as they were within arm's reach, however, the doors opened again to expose two Priors and two more soldiers.

The Priors' staffs flared bright white. Despite his exhaustion, Luke pushed his supporters away, stepped forward to meet the threat, and thrust both hands toward the staffs. The white crystals in each flared to an impossible brightness, and then cracked. The two priors stared gaping in shock at this display of power, but only until the fire of the Ori consumed them

The two soldiers also stared a moment before attempting to fire their staves. Luke lowered both hands, and their staves shot from their hands to the floor so powerfully that both weapons snapped in half. He made a waving motion and both men flew out of the way and slammed against a far wall, too stunned to move.

And then the Jedi sagged again. "Luke, what did they do to you?" Mara said, shocked by the display of power

"They showed me the universe," Luke said. "We need to hurry. Things are beginning to happen. New allies are coming, but it may not be enough."

They stepped into the transporter closet. Before Thracken could approach the controls, Luke caught the man's hand and shook his head. "No, we're going someplace else." He began tapping an unremarkable section of the wall, and with each tap a square lit up, until he had formed a checkerboard pattern.

Suddenly the room flashed white, and they were somewhere else. Mara still hated the instantaneity of the transporter; she had to fight off her disorientation to scan the room. It was the size of an ISD bridge, but without the station pits. The walls were lined in smooth, well-lit control panels that all looked new.

The air, however, smelled dusty. "Where is this?"

"A primary control relay for the station," Luke said. "Centerpoint had many uses when it was conceived. It could move planets, it could destroy stars. And it could pierce dimensions. And it is for this last that the Ori want it."

"What do you mean?"

Luke moved with exaggerated care toward one of the control panels, reading the unintelligible script. It had a passing semblance to Aurebesh script, but only in a few of the most basic shapes. His eyes moved over it as if he was born to the language, and his hands began moving across the panel.

"Luke, what did you mean by piercing dimensions?"

"There are multiple dimensions in space."

"Yeah, I know that. That's basic physics. You have the visible three dimensions, the fourth for time, and then the non-visible micro-dimensions, with the bleed through of gravitons. It's how we're able to detect ships in hyperspace, and how we're able to enter hyperspace in the first place."

"One of those dimensions is the realm of the ascended," Luke explained. "This is a physical plain we live on, with physical laws and limitations that the Ori and their counterparts exceed. And so when they ascended, they entered a new dimension. There is a barrier, a wall through which matter from this dimension and matter from theirs cannot intersect."

"What if it does?" Sal-Solo demanded.

Mara glared at the man, but Luke did not notice. "Then both dimensions collapse and form a new Big Bang."

Sal-Solo obviously was not a student of cosmology Mara, however, had the best tutors the Emperor could abduct and torture into service, and knew exactly what that meant. "The Ori want to cross physically into our plane."

"And Centerpoint will open the door for them to do so."

"And don't they know it will destroy us all?"

Luke shrugged, pushed a final series of lights, and turned toward her. "The Ori believe they will survive, and in so doing believe they will be able to create a new universe that they can shape to their desire, without interference from other ascended beings, or the Force. By killing the Doci, I've delayed them, but I haven't stopped them. The only way to do that is to destroy Centerpoint."

"And how do we do that?" Mara demanded. "Is there a self-destruct?"

"I wish," Luke rasped with a wan smile. "No, we'll have to destroy it the old fashioned way. With really big guns and really big bombs." He pointed to the panel. "The Interdiction Field is down permanently. It'll be months before they can rebuild the overloaded conduits to get it initiated again. We need to leave, now."

"We're coming with you," Olarin said. "We can help. I know at least ten of the Ori fighters have hyperdrive. It's standard hyperdrive and not the type the Ori use, but it'll get you where you need to go."

Mara rolled her eyes. "I'd still rather shoot you, but I know what the great Jedi Master here would say. Let's get going!"

They returned to the closet and this time Luke did not interfere when Olarin programmed in their new destination. A moment later, they stepped onto the hangar deck.

Sadly, they were joined by what appeared to be a force of several hundred soldiers who swung their staves into firing position and without hesitation fired.

Thrackan Sal-Solo, cousin to Han, died instantly as four separate beams sliced his head into quarters. Olarin tried diving for cover, but the Ori soldiers were true marksmen and diced him into pieces before he even hit the ground.

Ten beams hit Luke and Mara. Or, more precisely, hit an invisible barrier half a meter in front of Luke and Mara. Mara felt Luke drawing on the Force with greater power than anything even the Emperor could do, and felt a small tinge of fear. What had Luke become?

As if in answer, Luke pulled a staff from the hands of the nearest soldier. In his hand the staff flashed white. He lowered the weapon, and unleashed a beam twice as thick as those fired by the soldiers. The beam lashed out like a pole of death that the Jedi swept back and forth across their enemies. When he was done, none of the hundreds of soldiers remained standing.

"By the Force, what are you?"

Luke turned to Mara, his eyes still slightly clouded. "I don't know," he said, his voice sounding strangely dead. "We need to hurry, Mara. It's very important."

They walked through the line of Ori fighters, looking for one with hyperdrive. "This one," Luke said.

"Your new powers tell you that?" Mara demanded.

"No, I see the motivator unit attached in back," Luke said. Mara saw it then too, and felt her cheeks flush.

"I suppose you want to fly?" she asked as the two of them climbed in through the rear hatch

Luke shook his head, and then stumbled. "I don't think so."

Mara felt the Force in him begin to tremble. "Luke, what's wrong?"

His cheeks grew even more pale, almost to the color of a prior, and he fell suddenly to his knees. Mara was by his side. "Okay, Farmboy," she hissed, "tell me what is happening!"

"The Ori haven't given up on me yet," Luke gasped. "The part they left in me—it's trying to take over. I'm not sure how long I can hold it back. We have to go."

She helped him onto one of the two benches running the length of the vessel. The ship was as small as a TIE fighter, and yet could easily seat half a dozen people. She ran forward to the cockpit and in moments had the fighter flying out of Centerpoint.

Instantly, she was met by swarms of TIE fighters, a dozen Imperial destroyers, and more Ori attack ships and destroyers than she could count. The ship density was so incredible she could not even find a clear path to enter hyperspace. Even if she could, she was caught between the gravitational pull of a binary planetary system. She would have to clear the gravity well of both Tralus and Talus before she could go to hyperspace.

The TIE blaster-fire shook the fighter, but did no immediate damage. Her original assessment of these fighters as being a threat was confirmed by the fact that whole squadrons of TIE's could not even touch her. The turbolaser bolts from star destroyers, however, were another story. A bolt struck the fighter dead center while she was trying to evade fifteen others, and the whole ship bounced so forcefully not even the Ori inertial dampeners could hide the effect. Mara bounced hard in her seat, and behind her she heard a grunt and a thud as Luke fell to the floor plating. She did not dare look back, though, as she gripped the Force with mental hands and let it guide her through the maze of death.

Mara flew like she had never flown before. The Ori fighter danced through swarms of TIES, corvettes, frigates and destroyers with a dancer's grace, an assassin's skill, and all the luck of a Jedi. Behind and beside her, TIEs collided with each other in her wake, and in one instance, a Corellian missile boat intent on taking her down slammed at full speed directly into the sensor dome of a star destroyer.

She did not dare dwell on her success, however. Ori attack ships were moving with equal grace through the maze of Imperial ships, and she doubted the fighter would be able to withstand equally powerful technology.

Finally, the board blinked red, and she realized she had cleared the gravity well. "Thank the Force!" she hissed as she hit the controls. For one tiny second, she expected the hyperdrive motivator to fail and leave them stranded. Force aside, that would be her luck. But Fate, the Force, and perhaps luck itself, shined down on her. The ship kicked forward, and then slipped into hyperspace just as the Ori attack ships moved into firing range.


	35. Chap 34: Emotion, Yet Peace

**Ancient Lantean**--Good questions all. I was a bit puzzled too why Asgard motherships didn't seem to be able to do much against the Priors but a hyped up Earth ship could. Hmmm. As for the Centerpoint--In this AU, the pre-descended Ancients and Ori, when still a single race, built Centerpoint using the sum of their knowledge and technology. By themselves in their Ascended state, the Ori could not complete a similar task. At least, no in this story. As for the Asgard knowing the Ori--They knew all the four great races, at least one of which became the Ascended. So it's not that great a stretch to think they at least have some knowledge of the Ori. As for Luke...yep.

**Grayangle**--Asgard rock. However, this story takes place 150 years before the events of SG-1, so they have no direct relationship with Earth at all. They're coming because, while in the fit of his Force visions during his duel with the Doci, Luke asked them to, and well, they're just nice like that.

**Master cheif rulz**--Thank you. I agree the ending of the Asgard and the whole series felt rushed and incomplete. It could have been done much better.

**Tilius**--Thank you.

**Worker72**--I kill my characters without mercy. When the final war comes, it won't be a wankish good-guys take all. It will be a violent, deadly encounter. It should be great fun.

**murdax**--Thank you, I'm glad your enjoying it!

Well, we're fast approaching the end. I have a few more chapters, and then the final battle gets started in earnest. I hope everyone enjoys it!

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Emotion, Yet Peace**

Mara was surprised to learn that the entire fleet was at Coruscant. When her coded distress signal came back with the coordinates, she stared at them in dull shock for a moment before nodding to herself. "That nerfherder Kyle must have pulled off his mission after all."

She turned and looked over her shoulder at Luke. In the hours since their escape, he had become feverish, and no analgesics seemed to make any difference.

It was not surprising that the entire fleet responded to her appearance with alarm. Many squadrons of TIEs and X-Wings were already on patrol, and descended on her with trained speed and precision. She sent out the open ID broadcast and sighed a little in relief when the attack turned to an escort. The window blinked and took on an image of Anakin Skywalker as the Ori technology automatically adjusted the holocam message into a two dimensional image.

"Mara, are you well?" he asked.

"I am, but Luke is in trouble."

"I sensed as much. Dock aboard the medical frigate. I'm already on my way."

The signal ended, and Mara had to bounce several locator beams off ships before she found the medical frigate. By the time the Ori fighter docked in the frigate's modest docking bay, the crew had already been alerted to Luke's medical need.

At the head of the crew was Cilghal, dressed in traditional Jedi robes. Ever since participating with Tallisibeth in the rehabilitation of Anakin, the Mon Cal had discovered within her a powerful talent for Force healing. It was not surprising then that she spent much of her time on board the Frigate.

"How is he?" she asked in her clipped Mon Cal accent as Mara stepped out of the fighter.

"Feverish," she said. She and Cilghal want back in together to examine the fallen Jedi.

Cilghal extended a webbed hand over his head and chest, but then jerked it back as if burned. "By the Force," she whispered. "His veins are on fire! And it's evil, this thing inside him. What happened?"

"They tried to turn him into a prior," Mara explained.

"We have to hurry." Cilghal motioned for her support team and they came in with a repulsor stretcher. The two Jedi transferred Luke using the Force, rather than risk touching him, and together they ran toward the nearest trauma station.

When Anakin arrived, he found Mara standing before a window staring into the trauma station, her arms wrapped around herself, her face wearing a stony expression. He could feel her pain throbbing into the Force, and had to stop himself when he realized what it meant.

Instead of running into the room to demand a detailed report of his son's condition, which was his first impulse, Anakin instead slowly walked to the window and stood beside his apprentice.

"I felt you reach for him," she said without preamble or greeting. "You saved him."

"I wasn't alone," Anakin said. He studied her profile. Her hair had grown longer since her Imperial days, and she twisted it now in one hand, occasionally chewing on it nervously. "And neither are you, Mara."

He noticed her shoulders drop slightly as her head bowed down. "I didn't mean for it to happen," she whispered. "When we got captured, though, it seemed like all was lost. I saw him giving up, and I realized I couldn't let anything end without letting him know…"

Anakin took a risk that only the former Darth Vader would have been willing to take. He put his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her into a hug. He felt her stiffen and waited for her to pull away, but after a moment she relaxed into it. "I love him," she admitted finally.

Anakin fought the lump in his throat. "It's hard not to," he said.

"If he doesn't make it, I don't know what I'll do," she said. "It hurts so bad, Master. I understand now why our old Master warned us against love. It's turned me into a sniveling weakling."

Anakin leaned down and whispered to her: "Yet my love for Luke gave me the strength to overcome Palpatine's hold on me. And it was your love for my son that gave you the strength to escape. It is my love for you, Mara, that will give you the strength you need now."

She looked up finally, and he saw the tears boiling in her eyes, and the look of desperate hope that somehow slipped by her guarded exterior. "He makes us all saps, doesn't he?"

Anakin smiled and gently kissed her on the forehead, much like a benediction. "Yes. But he also makes us all better people than we otherwise could ever have been. I am living proof of that. And so, my dear, are you." He hugged her again. "You are a part of my family now, no matter what else happens."

"That doesn't mean I have to call you Dad, does it?"

"I think perhaps we can do without that."

He looked toward the door. "And speaking of family, here comes the rest."

The doors slid open and Leia stepped in, followed a moment later by Han, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2. Tallisibeth trailed behind. In the hall, Leia's guards took up station.

Leia walked right up to the window and stared in. What she saw was Cilghal standing over Luke's prone body with both hands outstretched, while three medical droids and two doctors hovered nearby. And, to everyone's surprise, a tiny, naked gray alien holding an unfamiliar scanning device.

"What happened?" the president of the Galactic Alliance asked while staring at the strange creature with Cilghal.

Mara outwardly schooled her expression and gave a full report of what happened. Even Anakin appeared stunned by what she related of Luke's struggles against the Doci, and finally, what Luke said was the real purpose behind Centerpoint.

"You mean you managed to fly that fighter out of the middle of the entire Ori fleet?" Han said incredulously, not really caring about the Force aspect.

Mara smirked. "What's wrong, flyboy, can't handle the fact I'm a better pilot than you are?"

Han sputtered, but before he could formulate a response Cilghal stepped out with the alien. She saw their gathered expressions and shook her head. "This is Eostre of the Asgard. She came to assist with Luke since she knows much more about his condition than I do."

Eostre blinked huge, monochromatic eyes. Leia found herself staring with fascination at the creature's tiny mouth as she spoke.

"Jedi Skywalker has been exposed to a transmitter plasmid filled with enhanced prior DNA. It is a method the Asgard have observed the Ori use in the past to transform Alterran-descended humans into priors. It only affects those with a specific Alterran genome, which all human Jedi have."

Leia sputtered. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have never heard of the Asgard or Alterrans."

"Yes," Eostre said.

Leia stared, leaning forward in anticipation of an explanation that did not come. "Our new ally is not as talkative as we would expect," Cilghal said. "I find it refreshing."

"Where are you from?" Han finally asked.

The creature blinked. "We are from a galaxy we call Ida. In relation to yours, it is approximately forty three galactic parsecs away."

"And what is a galactic parsec?"

"A very large intergalactic distance," Eostre said.

"Which means?" Leia demanded.

"We are from a galaxy far, far away." And that, they could tell, was the end of Eostre's discussion of her origins. "As I was saying, all human Jedi in this galaxy are descended from Alterrans."

"And how do you know that?" Leia demanded.

If it was possible to sigh without actually expelling breath, the Eostre just did it. "Because we observed it happen. In particular, I was part of an observation mission on a race you call the Rakata when an Alterran vessel crash landed. In point of fact, it crashed on the planet below. I believe this was 80,000 or so of your galactic mean years ago. That was the origin of the human race in this galaxy."

All of them, even Anakin stared at the creature.

"But humans have been in this galaxy longer than that!" Han finally said, choosing the less challenging objection.

"Humans are not native to this galaxy," Eostre explained. "In point of fact, humans evolved on a planet known as Terra many galaxies away. Many of the current residents of Terra are also descendents of the Alterrans, albeit much less advance than yourselves. As far as we know, all the humans throughout the twenty-eight known galaxies are descendents of or related in some way to the Alterrans. Granted, on Terra itself they are still flinging stones at each other, but they nonetheless carry the Alterran genome."

Those present listened as their knowledge of the cosmos was tossed out the window by a dry-witted alien the size of a naked Jawa.

"Perhaps you are interested in Jedi Skywalker?" Eostre finally said.

"Of course," Anakin said. "Can you help him?"

"We have halted the course of the infection, for lack of a better word," Eostre said. "Healer Cilghal'sskills are quite remarkable. If not for her, not even my instruments would be able to save him. However, we cannot completely cure him. His body is fighting the foreign DNA, but it appears designed to resist foreign intervention. Specifically, it was designed to evade intervention by any of the Four Races."

Leia opened her mouth to ask, but Eostre raised a thin four-fingered hand to stop her. "Please do not ask. All you need to know is that we have done all we can. Only Jedi Skywalker himself can do the rest. The infection is as much one of spirit as it is body."

"Is he conscious?" Mara asked.

"No, nor will he be while the infection lingers."

Mara looked back through the window, realizing what needed to be done. The answer came borne of the Force, but in her heart she would have done the same regardless. She turned to Anakin, and the elder Jedi nodded, reading her intent. "We need to leave the room and let Luke fight it in peace."

Leia protested, but Anakin was firm as he guided her and Han, Chewbacca and the droids out. He also motioned for Cilghal, Eostre, the doctors and even the medical droids to do the same. It was only as the doors were closing that Mara heard Leia say: "Why isn't Mara coming…." And then she was alone.

Mara stepped around the glass wall and into the trauma room. Cilghal and her droids had removed Luke's tunic, and under the harsh, unsparing light of the med table, his skin looked terribly white, as if he were already dead. She put a hand on his chest, and felt the heat burning just under the skin. Anyone but a Jedi would already be dead from that terrible fever.

Nearby, monitoring equipment beeped and hummed. The floor plates below them sang with the nearly imperceptible thrumming of massive energies. The whole universe thrummed with energy. But the energy coming from Luke felt wrong, as if thrumming at a frequency at odds with that of the rest of the universe. And Luke needed to be re-tuned.

With deliberate slowness, Mara switched off the monitors one by one. She locked the doors and coded them for password entry only. And then she dimmed the lights to a twilight glow. When all this was done, and she stood before Luke, she took a surgical laser and cut away the rest of his clothes.

When he lay completely nude on the padded table, Mara also slipped off her flight suit. She knew she wasn't at her best appearance after many days of captivity and that she had smelled better, but it didn't matter. She climbed onto the broad table and snuggled up to Luke, with almost every inch of their bodies in contact. "I promised you a show you wouldn't forget, Farmboy," she whispered as she braved the heat of his skin.

And then she laid her head on his chest. "I love you, Luke," she whispered. And she continued to whisper it, over and over again, and she poured every ounce of her love, and indeed, of her soul, into him through the whole length of their touching bodies. "I love you."

* * *

"I still don't understand why she's in there alone," Leia said, genuinely angry now. Anakin was not cowed before his daughter's anger, but neither was he prepared to discuss Mara Jade's relationship with his son. Tallisibeth had already sensed what was happening and followed Anakin's lead.

Cilghal, too, had sensed Mara's intent. Eostre did not appear to care.

But Leia was too upset to use her still fledgling Jedi skills to reach out to the Force and sense what was happening. Finally, though, it dawned on Han and he stopped her mid-rant. "Honey, she's trying to help him."

Leia stuttered silent for a moment, looking up at him with a quizzical expression. "So what? We're all trying to help him."

"Maybe she can help him in a way we can't," Han said.

Leia's eyes widened, and after a moment of reflection she swirled to her father. "You mean Mara Jade and Luke are…"

Anakin could help the ironic smile. "Is it really so hard to believe? After all, look at you. You are a princess of Alderaan. And you're engaged to a Corellian smuggler and pirate."

"Yeah, I did pretty good, didn't I?" Han chuckled.

Outflanked by two of the men in her life, all Leia could do was throw her hands up in exasperation. To Cilghal she said: "Do you think she'll do any good?"

"As much as any love can do," the healer said. She raised her head and closed her large, fluid brown eyes. "I sense them inside. If anyone can help him through his struggle, it is Mara Jade."

* * *

Luke stood before a gate of solid gold, looking onto a lake of fire. Around him was a hall of beauty, with architecture both ancient and extravagant. Pure sunlight shone through exquisite stained-glass windows to gently caress every curving buttress, every mosaic, in a cascade of gentle color and light.

And in the midst of such overwhelming beauty, the flames called his name and reached for him. He felt the little sparks of agony in his body responding to that call. He resisted the pull, but it was so very hard. "You cannot win," the Doci said from beside him. The face was different, the voice as well. But the spirit and power behind the face was the same.

"The Ori have cast down demons more powerful than you," the Doci said. "We have brought untold trillions into the path of Origin, and killed ten-thousand fold more who refused the Path. The Ori control whole galaxies unchallenged. Origin is the true path to enlightenment. Hallowed are the Ori."

Luke saw faces in the fire, demonic creatures filled with hatred and lust. It felt as if the Dark Side of the Force was made sentient and divine, and then sheathed in fire. From those flames Luke sensed true evil. Evil as in the absence of goodness. Evil as in the absence of compassion or concern. Evil as in the absence of love.

"I love you."

Luke heard the voice and tried to find its source with his eyes, but all he saw was the Ori city around him, and the Doci nearby, preaching to him of the futility of fighting the gods. At first, he did not recognize the voice, and yet it was the single most beautiful sound he had ever heard. It conveyed both pain and hope; fear and trust; and endless, enduring love, all rolled into a husky contralto. It was a sound of true love.

Luke pulled harder against the fire, desperate to find the source of those words. "I love you," he heard again.

And then came a name. "Mara!"

The Doci stepped closer and raised a hand, his eyes burning with the same light as the fires of hell nearby. "You shall join Origin, or you shall be destroyed!"

Another voice came, as once again he heard Mara whisper her love to him. This new voice whispered to him what sounded like the Jedi code, but a much older version than what Luke knew. "Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force. Be at peace, Jedi, and let your love guide you."

The flames bubbled angrily. "Demons!" the Doci cried. "You denigrate this holy place with your blasphemy!"

Around Luke, shimmers of blue appeared, just as happened in Centerpoint. He saw Yoda and Ben. But he saw other Jedi as well, some bearded, some bald, many of species he had never heard of. It felt as if all the Jedi in history stood around him, each face distinct and yet part of a whole tapestry. He heard Ben's voice, whispering a blessing he had clung to for so many years. "The Force will be with you, always."

But from their midst, he saw another face framed in a flame of hair that even in a ghostly blue image was obviously red. She stared at him adoringly, her hands reaching for him. "I love you, Luke. I love you."

"Demons!" The Doci was screaming with such fervent anger that flecks of white sprayed with each pronunciation. The fire beyond the golden gates was roiling with rage. But the little sparks of heat within Luke's body were cooling as the power of the Force and Mara's voice washed through him. Her voice held as much power as the Force, and extinguished the fires of the Ori one at a time.

Mara's voice sounded much closer now, and with that sensation came other sensations. For the first time he felt the weight of her head on his chest, and her arms. And he felt the heat from her body pressed so close to his. He felt the cool air washing over them both. With more effort than he would have believed, Luke opened his eyes.

Mara's face was a breath away from his, her green eyes boring into him as her lustrous hair fell around his face like a curtain of soft, cleansing light. "I love you," she whispered. Her breath washed over his face, the smell of her filled his nostrils.

"I love you too," Luke said. His voice was hoarse and cracked still, and he suspected he would never have a strong voice again, not after his screaming on Centerpoint. He lifted a trembling hand to pull stray hairs behind her ear. "I have always loved you. You saved me."

She leaned down and kissed him with gentle firmness. "And you saved me," she told him.

His eyelids started to sink, and she could feel his exhaustion. "Will you stay with me?" he asked, eyes suddenly wide at the thought of being alone when he woke.

"I will always be with you," she answered. "Forever."

He smiled and hugged her closer. "Good." And with that, Luke Skywalker dropped into a gentle, healing sleep.


	36. Chap 35: The Eye of the Storm

Yoda1976--Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I always enjoy writing scenes with naked women. I was pretty proud of the old code as well, glad it worked for you.

**Tilius**--Thank you.

**master cheif rulz--**Adria won't be born for another 150+ years. However, within this story at least, I take the position that just as the Ori can create new Priors and Docis, they can also create new Oricis.

**Kahless21**--Thank you. A little reprieve before the final battle. But Ragnarok is coming, have no fear.

**murdax**--Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

So here is Chapter 34, a brief respite before the final battle hits. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Five: The Eye of the Storm**

The liberation of Coruscant was met with universal acclaim among the systems of the Alliance. Kir Kanos, Baron Soontir Fel and Jedi Knights Kyle Katarn and Ekria were held out as heroes of the people. Kir, Ekria and Kyle shunned the fame. But Fel, who was married to a stunningly beautiful holonet star, accepted the role of celebrity with grace.

"People need heroes," he explained to Ekria. "Better to have one with some sense of honor, wouldn't you say?"

With the restoration of the capital on Coruscant, governments that had previously refrained from joining now petitioned _Alliance One_ in droves. The Hapes Consortium and the Corporate Sector Authority both petitioned, as did hundreds of smaller systems. With the flood of systems came a flood of logistical support, supplies and personnel.

Star destroyers ran at full capacity for the first time since the death of the Emperor. Ship yards were repaired or in some cases constructed from scratch, and new ships began rolling off production lines. And with almost unlimited resources, the super star destroyers were converted to each carry one of the remaining five superlasers from the Death Star prototype. It all happened in just a matter of weeks.

And everywhere tiny, extragalactic gray aliens were tinkering with and advising shipbuilders and engineers, improving drive system efficiency, and installing new shielding. The shields were the greatest innovation the galaxy had ever seen. Although not as strong as the shields of the combined Ori phalanx of destroyers, the shields nonetheless were more powerful than any ship-borne shield ever seen, and eliminated the need for separate ray and particle shields. For the first time, those in command looked upon their combined forces and felt they had a real chance at complete victory.

During that time, Luke rested and recovered. And Mara Jade stayed by his side the whole time. With Mara ruthlessly running off anyone who stayed more than a few minutes, it was the closest thing to a vacation Luke had ever experienced.

It was certainly the most wonderful. Because when Mara had run any visitors away (and it was a sight to see Mara Jade browbeat and intimidate even the great Chewbacca!) she crawled right back into Luke's bed and snuggled up against him. She was there when he woke up in the mornings, and there when he fell asleep, and each time he opened his eyes and saw her there, his heart skipped a beat and he realized how truly, completely in love he was with this woman.

"We need to get married," he said on the fifth day of his convalescence.

"Yeah," Mara said.

"I mean, we need to get married now."

She propped herself up on her pillow and stared at him. "Luke, it's a little late for the whole 'waiting until marriage' thing. We lasted about a day, if I remember."

He giggled. He couldn't help it. The thought of that first time made him feel giddy. And the second. And third. And, well, he'd lost count. It had been five days, after all. Even weakened, she strengthened him enough for that and more.

"So, why this sudden rush?"

"Because the idea of not being married to you is unbearable," Luke finally said. "And because this is likely going to be the closest thing to a honeymoon we're going to have anytime soon. And…" He didn't want to finish the last thought, but she was so close to him now, physically and in the Force, that she didn't need him to say it to know what he meant.

"You want to make sure we're married before we start the final push against Corellia."

He nodded, somber now. Although he was still pale, and likely would be the rest of his life, and his voice was still thin and scratchy, and would be the rest of his life barring surgery, his color was better, and he had proven his strength was returning many times. Still, the ordeal on Centerpoint had changed him in ways Mara knew she would never truly understand.

"So, how do Jedi get married?" Mara asked.

"I don't think they did," Luke said. "But I had a dream not long ago. An ancient Jedi was reciting the code to me, but it was different than what Yoda taught me. Our code states 'There is no emotion, there is peace.' But this Jedi said 'Emotion, yet peace'."

"So, what's the difference?"

"I think somehow, at some point, the code was changed from what it originally meant. The code Yoda taught me seems to want to either deny, or at least severely control emotions. No emotional attachment, hence no marriage. But what if that was a perversion of the original code? Maybe the truest expression of a Jedi _is_ love and attachment."

"Maybe. So, what's your point?"

"That we should get married. Today. Tomorrow at the latest."

"So, are you going to propose?"

"I thought I just did."

"You suggested. You haven't actually asked me to marry you yet."

"Hmm, you're right."

Luke pulled himself out of bed, his legs weak but much stronger than before. He looked down and made sure he was properly dressed, and then stepped out of the room. Mara watched in surprise, and then sat up further when Luke returned with Cilghal in tow.

"Master Skywalker, I don't understand what is so important that it couldn't wait for me to finish my paperwork," Cilghal was saying.

"It's important. I need a witness."

"A witness?" Mara asked.

"A witness?" Cilghal asked.

"A witness," Luke said, firmly. "It's another Naboo custom I read about a few months back. And since technically I'm Naboo…"

"A custom for what?" the Jedi healer demanded.

Luke, however, had eyes only for Mara. He guided her off the bed, holding both hands, and still in his sleeping clothes, kneeled on the floor before her, looking up at her with adoring eyes. "Mara Jade, will you be my wife?"

"I don't know," Mara said, though her voice was thick with emotion. "I heard Kyle was still available."

Luke knew the answer too well to be stricken, though Cilghalshook her head. "I have it on great authority that Kyle is committed to a long term relationship," he said. "He's pledged his life to a potential Jedi named Kaylie."

"She's only six months old. That's a long time to wait. I'm sure he'll get lonely in the meantime."

"Mara, the floor is really hard and my knees are starting to hurt," Luke said plaintively.

She laughed, leaned down and kissed him passionately. "I will be your wife." She kissed him again slowly, passionately. After several moments of the lingering kiss, she looked up at Cilghal. "Leave now. Please."

Cilghal, knowing Mara, merely clucked her tongue in a Mon Cal chuckle and left.

"You know what," Mara said when they were alone. "I've never made love to a fiancé before."

"Me neither."

"Better get to it, then!"

* * *

That evening, Luke and Mara left their quarters for the first time since returning to the fleet to join Anakin for dinner. The only other guests were Han and Leia, and Tallisibeth. The older Jedi wore her brown robes as always, but sat near Anakin's side with a patient look of happiness on her face. All the Jedi and most of the crew knew of their relationship, but the two acted with such reserve and dignity that no one felt any need to comment on it.

Anakin was the first to lift a glass when all were seated. "To Luke and Mara. And to Han and Leia. May you all live in happiness and joy."

"Here, here," Han said, and they toasted each other before drinking the fine Naboo wine. "So, Luke, you and Mara are really getting married tomorrow?"

"No time like the present," Luke said.

"Besides," Mara added with a smirk, "we're not presidents or anything, so we don't have to have a big fancy ceremony."

Leia muttered, "Force preserve us. If ours gets any bigger we're going to have to rent a planet."

"Will you consent to marry us, Father?" Luke asked.

"It would be the greatest honor I have ever had," Anakin said. He looked at Leia and smiled. "As would it be for me to give you away, Leia. I can't tell you what it meant to me that you asked."

Nothing more needed to be said; everyone knew exactly what it meant for Leia to ask the former Darth Vader to give her away at her wedding.

The food came, and they ate while talking. Anakin began talking about the many adventures he had as a young padawan. His audience was amazed, especially when it came to his courtship and marriage to Padmé Naberrie

"I don't know," Han said after hearing the tale. "First time I mentioned kissing around Leia, she said she'd rather kiss a Wookiee."

"Chewbacca's still waiting, from what I understand," Luke said.

Leia blushed and elbowed him. "I have kissed him, on the cheek. I got a mouthful of fur for my trouble."

They laughed and settled back in their seats. Beyond a transparisteel window, the distant sun lifted over the Coruscant horizon, lighting the many swathes of green the Ori had carved into the ecumenopolis "So what happens next?" Han asked.

Anakin's expression darkened slightly. "From what Luke has said, we have to take Centerpoint, and we have to do so soon."

"And what assets do we have?"

"By the time we're ready to move, we'll have six Eclipse-class converted dreadnoughts with superlasers and Asgard shields. We have resonance torpedoes designed by Admiral Daala's development staff that even the Asgard believe can render Ori shields vulnerable to attack. And the combined fleets of the Galactic Alliance."

"And the Ori have at least ten thousand ships, possibly more, to fight back with," Han pointed out. "And their destroyers are easily as powerful as our dreadnoughts, and a lot smaller."

"And there's something else," Luke said. His rasping voice still made Leia wince. Anakin merely nodded.

"The glowpoint," the elder Skywalker said.

"It is where the Ori would emerge into our universe," Luke said. "It draws and focuses the power from the gravitation fields of the twin planets. The Ori will be able to replace the Doci quickly, but when I killed the first one I sensed that I had undone his work. It will take weeks for the new Doci to resume what his predecessor started. But time is short. More than anything else, our first responsibility has to be the destruction of the glowpoint."

The table was silent for a moment before Mara nodded. "We need to infiltrate the station in force and destroy the glowpoint first and foremost," she finally said.

"Yes," Luke said. "And not just with soldiers. The Jedi, all of us, must go."

"Our numbers have increased since you and Mara left," Anakin said. "Ferris discovered two former padawans who had survived on Ord Mantell. They have joined the cause and are nearly at the level of knights."

"And don't forget Kir Kanos," Mara said.

Anakin nodded. "Yes, Kir. I will have to discuss any operations with him personally."

"Let me guess, Darth Vader did bad things to Kir," Han said.

"Darth did bad things to everybody," Anakin said with a sad sigh. "Kir is another good man the Imperial machine turned bad. I hope we can make it right. He is powerfully force sensitive and would make a good Jedi, if his soul is still repairable."

"So who would lead the assault on Centerpoint?" Han asked.

"I would," Anakin said. "This is too important for me to stay behind. In fact, the only Jedi not to go should be you, Leia, because of your other responsibilities. And Cilghal."

Leia was too practical to protest, though she looked unhappy at the idea of being left behind.

"Overall fleet command should be coordinated between Admirals Piett and Ackbar," Anakin continued. "We will have to draw up very specific plans of attack and we will require extraordinary coordination."

The discussion went on for a long time as plans were laid. They all knew the admirals and generals would truly finalize the plans, but everyone realized the true leadership of the free galaxy was in that room.

They also realized the possibility that not all of them would make it out of the mission alive.

The next day, with only the Jedi and afew close friends such as Colonel Wedge Antilles and Grand Admiral Piett, Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade were married by Anakin Skywalker on the surface of Coruscant. Anakin surprised them all by wearing the traditional brown and tan robes of a Jedi, and what could only be described as a beneficent smile.

Luke wore the robes of a Jedi as well. Mara, however, wore a traditional Naboo wedding dress with a veil thrown over not just her face, but the whole of her head. The dress was a white silk native to Naboo that caressed the curves of her body, but left her back bare to the base of her spine. It was a gift from Leia, who upon seeing the taller woman in it realized now she could never have worn it herself. "I just don't have the right shape," she whispered to Han.

There were no attendants, as that was not the Naboo custom. Rather, it was the bride and groom standing alone before the priest, or Jedi in this case. Nor did they marry on a ship, but instead stood at the base of the Manarai Mountains on Coruscant, under a cloudless blue sky at the shores of an artificial and yet still beautiful sea.

When Luke spoke the traditional Naboo responses, his voice came out thin and weakened, but he said them with a firm, loving expression. Mara spoke hers with quiet dignity and strength. And when the traditional scarves were laid across their wrists to symbolize their union, they kissed each other so intensely those in the front row actually smiled and looked away at the heat generated. Leia wiped tears from her eyes, and smiled when the young Jedi Darana handed her a cloth. Darana cried openly and seemed to be filled with all the emotions of the crowd. She was also staring unabashedly at Wedge, who was starting to get a little warm under the collar himself.

Until, that is, Han elbowed him in the ribs and held out a hand. Wedge rolled his eyes, pulled out a credit disk, and handed it over. It had seemed like such a safe bet, too. Surely Luke would never marry an ex-imperial assassin.

Three days later, as the amplified light of the Coruscanti sun rose over those same Manarai Mountains, the combined fleets of all the free galaxy left orbit to join in the greatest battle the galaxy had seen.


	37. Chap 36: Ragnorak Begins

**Guardian Dimension**--Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

**ancient lantean**--The Ori are going for the role of Gods over a new creation that will destroy all of existence. As for creating a new Centerpoint--although it's never said explicitly, it took all the resources of the Ancients to create it, and so the Ori alone would not be able too. Some parts of it the Ori themselves did not understand. As for the Asgard weapons and the SG-1 finally--I too hate it when they change the rules in the middle of the war. If the Asgard beams were that effective, then they should have showed us that when the Ori first broke through. I join you in your rant. Anyway, with Luke having defeated the Prior DNA, he will slowly return back to his Jedi self, albeit it was a stronger grip on the Force than before.

**grayangle**--Asgard and Thor do indeed kick butt. And yes, at this point Earth is in no danger. I believe during the vents of GOD&L on Earth California has just become a state and the US Congress is realizing they are going to have a problem over slavery between the North and South very soon.

**master cheif rulz**--No mass slaughter of Asgard in this story, promise.

**Tilius**--Thank you.

Okay, brace yourselves. This is it--the beginning of the final battle! Enjoy.

* * *

****

**Chapter Thirty-Six: Ragnarok Begins**

The Sun Crusher had been renamed and remade. The quantum armor had been cracked in the rear of the ship and expanded into a long, narrow hull perhaps fifty meters long. The sheer expense of the project drained the coffers of whole worlds. It was absolutely necessary to their plan of attack.

Under the oversight of Daala and Qwi Xux the Sun Crusher was remade from a small torpedo platform into the most heavily armored troop carrier in the history of the galaxy. "We can fit at least five squads in it," Luke said as he and Anakin looked on over the construction. The fleet had assembled two systems away from Corellia, just a quick hyperspace jump away. "Not to mention all the Jedi."

"Between the armor and the Asgard shielding, I have no doubt we can get in," Anakin said "It's getting from the ship to the glowpoint that will be trouble."

"Well, if we can't do it, no one else can," Luke said without any sense of pride or humility. "I believe we can."

"Are you up for this trip, Luke?"

The younger Skywalker nodded. "I feel stronger every day."

"Mara says you have changed. I sense it as well. The Force burns more brightly in you than ever before."

Luke stood silently, looking at the ship. In addition to the quantum armor, the entire ship was reinforced with thick beams of quantum filaments that bisected the length of the ship. In essence, they were building a hollow battering ram. "I am different, father," he finally said. "For a moment, when you and Mara and the others were reaching for me, others came as well. It felt as if the whole history of the Jedi were centered on me, every knight and master that had ever lived, all focusing their attention through me. I know things about the Force I know I never learned from you, Ben or Yoda. The strength from the Ori is gone, and good riddance, but I am more than the Jedi I was before."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his father staring at him with a proud smile. "You are a true master now. Even among the old order, you would have been accepted as such. Your power is like nothing I've seen, and you carry a wisdom in you far beyond your years. You are everything I had dreamed you would be, when I was still young enough to have such dreams."

Luke felt his eyes grow moist and nodded before turning to look back at the ship. "I just hope it's enough. Han, Chewie, Leia and I aren't used to these full frontal attacks. We also just snuck around from behind and blew it up when you weren't looking."

Anakin laughed. "And Palpatine raged every time you did." He too studied their means of entry onto Centerpoint. "These Ori, though, don't seem to have a back door. And their faith is absolute. There can be no compromise with a fanatic. We must destroy them."

Luke put an arm around his father's shoulders. Side by side, they were almost of a height, though Anakin still had the advantage. "We will, Father. The Force is our ally."

Luke sensed a tickle in the back of his mind. Anakin felt it too. "It is time for my meeting with Kir."

"Do you want me there?"

"No," Anakin said. He turned and smiled. "Don't worry, I won't offer him a free shot. He's an Imperial guardsman—he would take the shot without a moment's hesitation and make sure not to miss."

Luke watched as his father walked away, his shoulders slumped as if in defeat. At that moment, he realized that Anakin was fast approaching fifty. With the weight of the war and the emotional turmoil he was in, for the first time Luke thought his father looked old.

Anakin, for his part, strode reluctantly through the _Executor_ toward the scheduled meeting with Kanos. When he arrived, he found the former guardsman standing unconsciously at parade rest while staring out the viewport toward the distant sun of their staging area.

"Thank you for meeting with me, Colonel Kanos," Anakin said.

"It is an honor, m'lord."

With that simple sentence, Anakin heard so much. The words themselves revealed that Kir Kanos knew exactly who Anakin Skywalker was. The acidic tone told him that Kir Kanos had not forgotten who gave him the scar on his face, a scar given because Kanos had wept over the body of the best friend he himself had been forced to kill before being allowed to don the crimson armor. And the body language and expression told Anakin there would be no forgiveness there. Not ever.

"Please sit, Kir," he said.

"I prefer to stand."

"As you wish." Anakin sat down and studied the guardsman. "I wanted to try and talk you into joining the Jedi under my son's tutelage."

"No, thank you."

"The Force is strong in you. You could be a Jedi."

"Or a Sith?"

"Yes."

"You would know about the Sith, wouldn't you, commander?"

"More than any," Anakin said. "A Sith broke you, years ago. A man who himself was broken and twisted by another Sith."

"You don't look broken to me."

"My son fixed me," Anakin said.

"How convenient. And you think he can fix me as well?"

"I had hoped. I know better now." Anakin stood. "Colonel, Jedi or not, I more than anyone else know and appreciate your battle skills. I would like you to lead the ground soldiers under the Jedi attack force to Centerpoint. But I will not make it an order."

"Jedi Ekria is going?"

"All of us are going. The war hinges on this battle. If we fail, the galaxy will burn under the Ori's flames of enlightenment."

Kanos ground his teeth and stared at a point over Anakin's shoulder. "I hate you," he said. He made it a statement of undeniable fact. "And I will kill you."

"Fine, kill me later," Anakin said. "But not now. Now, the galaxy needs both of us. Ekria needs you. She has fought with a partner her whole life, and is not prepared to fight alone."

"What makes you think I care about Ekria?"

"What makes you think you don't?"

Anakin stood and stepped directly in front of the colonel, so close their breaths met in a coil of heat between their faces. "Darth Vader was an evil, broken man, Kir Kanos. He would never have apologized to you for the pain he caused. Nor can I apologize for what he did to you, because I know you would never accept it. But I will tell you this—after this war, if vengeance you must have, then vengeance you will get. I will face you alone, unarmed, in a venue of your choosing. And I will not use the Force. I will face you man-to-man, even should it mean my death."

"It will," Kanos said.

"I will grant this to you, though, only if you agree to lead the soldiers in the boarding party."

"I would have regardless," Kanos said with a hungry glint in his eye. "Your offer simply insures I will survive."

"See to it," Anakin said. "The galaxy needs you." With that, the Jedi turned and left Kanos alone.

* * *

Two weeks later, two star destroyers and a Mon Calamari cruiser dropped from hyperspace on the edge of the Corellian system and began hard scans of the system. Simultaneously two wings of bombers launched. 

Almost instantly, a phalanx of five Ori destroyers emerged from their own more precise hyperspace travel to engage them.

The moment the five destroyers came in range, the wings of TIE bombers began launching small, brightly lit torpedoes. The destroyers ignored the torpedoes as they honed in on the first Star Destroyer. Their five beams of destruction lanced outward and the first Star Destroyer died instantly.

And then the resonance torpedoes struck. Weapons designed to destabilize and destroy whole stars had little trouble with shields even as powerful as those of the Ori, and for the first time since the war began, the Ori destroyers lost all shielding on the very first salvo. A moment later, the _Liberator_, formerly known as the _Aggressor,_ emerged from hyperspace directly above the orbital plane, pointed directly at the tops of the five Ori ships. It came flanked by two Imperial-class star destroyers. The superlaser fired the moment it emerged from hyperspace, accompanied by a wave of torpedoes and turbolaser fire from the accompanying star destroyers.

The tactic worked flawlessly. The five ships crumpled without any shielding, and were so thoroughly vaporized that the _Liberator_ passed through the dust cloud without a single debris impact.

Just as quickly, the super star destroyer and its escorts jumped back into hyperspace, accompanied by the original surviving star destroyer and the rebel frigate just after the bombers docked. When a squadron of Ori attack ships arrived, they found nothing more than the empty hulk of a stripped, unmanned destroyer ripped to pieces by the Ori weapons.

On the far side of the system at the same time, a similar incident happened. Two phalanxes of Ori destroyers arrived to attack the Alliance incursion and made quick work of the Alliance decoys, and then themselves were destroyed by the _Guardian_ and _Defiant_, two more converted and rechristened dreadnoughts.

By the time of the fourth such decoy, the Ori began to suspect what was happening and sent out a significantly larger force, including fifty star destroyers, ten Ori attack ships and two phalanxes of Ori destroyers.

The enemy ships ran headlong into a minefield. Hypermatter-enhanced gigaton-level fusion devices began exploding in quick succession as the mines' automated proximity systems locked on to and began accelerating toward their target ships before going off in quick succession.

The only ships that came through the minefield were the Ori craft and listing, damaged star destroyers. TIE bombers, accompanied this time by Y-wing fighters, launched a wave of resonance torpedoes against the Ori destroyers while attempting with mixed success to avoid the Ori attack ships and the few former Imperial ships to survive the minefield.

Instantaneously, the _Knight Hammer_ and _Lusankya_ emerged from hyperspace, again with their noses pointed down like arrows about to impale the Ori ships along the orbital plan, with a fleet of missile frigates, star destroyers and corvettes. This time the Ori ships had time to fire back, but only just. A frigate and two corvettes died instantly, but not before adding their voices to the barrage that killed the enemy craft.

And then the decoys ended and space fell quiet again.

"I think that got their attention," Admiral Piett said to Admiral Ackbar. The two admirals each commanded a superdestroyer—the _Executor_ for Piett, the _Liberator_ for Ackbar.

"I would say so," Ackbar said over the tactical display. "Are we ready for Phase II?"

"Shock and awe," Piett said, allowing just a hint of humor to grace his otherwise determined and stoic demeanor.

Two hundred missile frigates jumped into the system on the edge of the twin planet's gravity well, perhaps five thosuand kilometers from the nearest enemy vessels. The frigates lived up to their name and design by launching almost a thousand missiles each. The missiles were armed again with hypermatter-enhanced fusion devices and the most powerful conventional thrusters available. The three-meter long devices launched away with massive acceleration that reached near relativistic speeds in just minutes.

The Ori responded with their own lethal speed, and even before the last missiles were launched Ori attack vessels laid into the frigates with ruthless force. Of the two hundred launched on the mission, only eighty were able to jump out.

However, the damage was done. The Ori attack vessels chased the missiles down with great accuracy, but with two hundred thousand missiles in-bound, some were bound to hit. Unfortunately for the Ori-converted Imperials, they made up the first line of Centerpoint's defense. Missile after missile struck Imperialstar destroyers, frigates, corvettes and missile boats one after the other, rupturing hulls and shields alike and leaving a wake of destruction in their passage.

The same tactic was used at all six cardinal points of the massed Ori fleet in a three-dimensional grid of the combat theatre. Missile boats and corvettes jumped from hyperspace and launched long-range ordinance before jumping out again. The Alliance casualties mounted as the Ori began to anticipate the approximate area of the attack and answered with astounding force and speed. However, the effect of the offensive was undeniable.

During the entire operation, a single intelligence freighter hung over the orbital plane, recording everything. Every phalanx of Ori destroyers was located and tagged. Every squadron of Ori attack fighters was located and traced. And the defenses of Centerpoint were also recorded in excruciating detail.

Again, the Alliance offense backed away and withdrew from the theater on the edge of the gravity well of Talus and Tralus. And then the Alliance got nasty.

Mass drivers were an old weapon, used by races as ancient as the Rakata and as modern as the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. They were a brute-force, low tech weapon that used oscillating magnetic waves to launch nickel-iron asteroids. It was the space-age equivalent to a sling-shot, only it shot rocks the size of frigates and larger, at speeds approaching a third the speed of light.

The Alliance had quickly constructed three such weapons. They were mounted on the converted hulls of previously damaged star destroyers. They were ugly in appearance and in purpose. But those three ships began pumping out rocks zooming out at over 130,000 kilometers a second toward the center of the Ori forces. At a firing rate of one rock every five seconds, each was able to fire 12 rocks a minute. In the course of five minutes, the three craft launched 180 frigate-sized asteroids at the enemy.

The rocks had no propulsion, no obvious silhouette, and no energy readings. The Ori forces did not realize they were under a barrage until a rock three times the size of a Corellian corvette slammed into the hull of a star destroyer with sufficient kinetic force to destroy the entire ship.

The Ori forces responded quickly and efficiently, destroying many of the asteroids before they could pose any further threat. On the edge of the gravity well of the twin planets, a swarm of Ori attack ships, flanked by smaller Ori fighters, emerged out of hyperspace a thousand kilometers stellar north of the orbital plane and quickly spun in an imitation of the Alliance's own tactics to attack the mass drivers. The Alliance escort moved to intercept, but the Ori ships moved past the defenders without hesitation and made quick work of the unshielded mass drivers.

By the time the Ori ships finished off their primary targets and turned to engage the defenders, the Alliance ships had jumped back out of the system. The attack had served its purpose.

It was in the middle of the meteor shower that Anakin and Luke launched the _Jedi Hammer._ Draped in an Imperial cloak, the ship flew completely blind to the rest of the galaxy, but with two powerful Jedi at the controls, the ship flew as cleanly through the hazards around it as if both men were taking a leisurely flight in a speeder.

In the tightly packed hold behind them, over one hundred of the finest soldiers the Alliance had waited quietly, gripping the hand holds draping from the ceiling since there was not space to sit. Mixed in with the soldiers, who wore modified stormtrooper armor, were all the Jedi save Cilghal and Leia. Counting Luke and Anakin, there were a total of thirteen Jedi leading the attack.

The Force virtually hummed in the ship. In the tightly cramped cockpit, Mara sat in the tertiary seat behind and between Luke and Anakin, staring out into the darkness. "The rocks got a few of them," she noted, sensing the loss of life through the Force.

Luke looked back at her and nodded with a serious expression. "I wonder if Sonel was on any of those ships."

"He would gladly kill you, Luke," Mara said.

"And yet, in his own way, he is a good man," Luke said.

"Even good men can do evil," Anakin said, his eyes also focused on the darkness cast by their cloak. Suddenly they began to swerve as Anakin followed the guidance of the Force to maneuver them through the enemy fleet. Mara watched with interest as her master flew blind with the same skill she used getting Luke out of Centerpoint. "I can see why the old holovids called you the greatest pilot in the galaxy," she said.

Anakin flashed an uncharacteristic grin at his son. "Hear that, Luke? I think she likes me."

Even Luke had to chuckle. Mara leaned forward and whispered into Anakin's ear, "It's just not the same for me without your armor."

Luke's chuckle turned to an open laugh as his father's grin turned to a grimace. Then the grin returned. "I still have it, you know," he said suggestively.

"And to think you're my father-in-law!"

The moment of levity lasted only until they all sensed the dark heat ahead of them that could only have been the glowpoint of Centerpoint Station.

"Well, do we try to sneak in and dock, or crash through?"

"I'd say dock, if it weren't a thousand kilometers across," Anakin said. "But I don't cherish fighting through that distance. The closer we can get to the center cavity, the better."

"Then we crash," Mara said. She turned and saw the Jedi watching expectantly. They too had seen the glow in the Force. "We're going to crash through," she old them. "Everyone get into their crash webbing. Jedi, get on your masks. We're going to be putting up the crash foam in a second."

"It's going to be hard to fly covered in crash foam," Anakin muttered as he slipped on his breather.

"Better than flying as a puddle of goo," Luke pointed out, before he too put on his breather.

When the Jedi were all breathing through their masks, and with the soldiers' armor self-contained, she hit a jury-rigged red button beside her. Instantly crash foam billowed out around them, filling the entire ship in a protective cushion.

She heard Anakin's voice through the Force announcing the acceleration to ramming speed. They would be hitting the station going at full sublight.

Suddenly all their danger senses flared. Behind them, the Ori had somehow detected them through their cloak. Ori destroyers broke off from their five-ship phalanx formation and pursued as five separate ships, firing constantly.

The first shot took out the cloak without effort. The second shot hit the quantum armor. Armor that could survive a direct impact with a star destroyer and survive the center of a star held up for a full ten seconds against the destroyer's shot. Anakin juked the ship left and right, spinning wildly until he managed to break free from the prolonged blast. Even so, they could all feel the ship decelerating. The drive units had been damaged.

"We've still got plenty of speed," he said. "We have enough momentum."

The enemy fired again, and this time the quantum armor popped and shattered toward the rear. The interior of the ship was suddenly exposed to space. If it weren't filled with crash foam, everyone inside would have been sucked out into the darkness.

All that saved them from the finishing shot was time. The ship hit the surface of Centerpoint Station like a missile. The inertial dampening system absorbed a significant fraction of the force caused when the ship crashed through the outer surface of the station and went from three hundred thousand kilometers to absolute rest in the course of one second.

However, there were limits to what the grav plating and dampening fields could do. Hence the foam. Even so, Mara almost lost her breather despite her tight bite on it when her whole body felt as if a giant hand came from behind and swatted her like a giant bug. The foam, which should have prevented any movement once exposed to the heavy _g_-force of a crash, still bent and gave under the force of her weight.

But they survived, and they were in Centerpoint. A fine mist of water droplets sprayed from the crash systems over the whole ship, and in seconds the foam dissolved to nothing. Jedi and troopers alike fell to their knees gasping from the force of the crash. Behind them, they saw a hole in the ship large enough for three men to walk out side by side, and beyond that a hole open to space. Behind even that, they saw a flurry of lights. While they were crashing into the station, the Alliance fleet had begun the full engagement of the Ori forces.

They stumbled out of the _Jedi Hammer_ and onto the deck of the station and looked around. The station's automated emergency systems had a static shield containing the breach, and as they stood watching, the walls seemed to begin repairing themselves.

But the breach had been severe enough to empty the section they had crashed in. Anakin, Luke and Mara emerged, and Ferus Olin joined them. "Do you have our position?"

Luke and Mara shared a glance, and then let the Force guide them to the glowpoint. "No idea," Luke admitted. "But we need to go that way."

"Good enough for me," the Jedi Master said. A veteran of the clone wars, the Jedi Ferus easily back into the general role. "Fall in," he snapped to the soldiers. "And look alive."

The lead trooper, wearing red epaulettes over his armor, nodded and brought his squad into formation. With Jedi ahead of and behind the main body of the soldiers, they began their invasion of Centerpoint Station.


	38. Chap 37: War

**Tilius**--Thank you.

**Tom Robinson**--They are indeed. In force.

**Ancient lantean**--The Asgard will participate, but only with the ships they've already brought.

**Master cheif rulz**--Thank you, I appreciate the kind words.

**Worker72**--George is a man who had a brilliant vision that he has spent the past 30 years trying to destroy. But it's a mark of the brilliance of the idea itself that it stands even so.

Also, I'm almost afraid to admit this, but the Vong are not now, nor will they ever be, a significant part of this story. Eventually this AU drifts back into cannon events with a few minor "butterfly effect" changes, but the Vong are never really a subject. Hope that doesn't disappoint too much.

Well, thanks to everyone for reading. I only have a few more posts to go, and then Gods of Dark and Light will be over. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: War**

"The _Hammer_ is away," a captain reported. Piett stood on the bridge of the _Executor_ and nodded to himself. "May the Force be with you, my friend," he whispered quietly to the viewport.

He turned to the tactical holonet view of Ackbar and the other commanders of the fleet. There was Baron Soontir Fel, newly promoted admiral and commander of the _Lusankya_. There were Admirals Ackbar and Pellaeon, both of them worthy, honorable warriors with a firm grasp of fleet tactics. General Rieekan commanded _Liberator_, while Admiral Daala commanded the _Defiant_ and an Anaxsi admiral named Holdsen commanded the _Knight Hammer_. In addition to the super-star destroyer command ships, he knew there were thousands of captains, hundreds of thousands of officers, and millions of men and women of all races and species throughout the massed fleet behind him. And a handful of Asgard mother ships almost as powerful as those of the Ori. It was, in fact, the largest massing of ships he had ever seen.

And they fully expected to lose half their ships.

"Ladies and gentlemen, are we ready?"

The assembled generals and admirals nodded. "Then, my friends, may the Force be with us all. And may we see each other again soon."

The admiralty voiced their agreement, and then one by one flickered out. Piett walked the length of the command bridge until he stood next to the captain. "Signal the fleet to attack."

The harassment of the Ori ships by the Alliance fleet had an almost entropic effect on the Ori vessels. The enemy ships clumped together for mutual protection, leaving large swaths of empty space. Many of the clumps were positioned on the edge of the gravity well of Talus and Tralus, waiting for hyperspace encroachments.

But between the binary planets, around the moon-sized station of Centerpoint, hung the bulk of the Ori Fleet, held still in the LaGrange points of the two planets and forming a protective cloud.

The dispersal of Ori ships was in a two-dimensional matrix along the orbital plane. The Alliance tacticians had noted that as well, and used it in planning the first phases of the attack.

And so it was that when the first elements of the fleet emerged from hyperspace, it was at a point along the plane directly between two groups of two hundred Ori ships each. Only one group responded at first. But when over a thousand Alliance ships emerged, the second group also converged, as did two others.

And it was as those other groups arrived that the rest of the Alliance fleet emerged en mass from opposite directions of the orbital plane, like arrows fired at paper. Whereas the first element was led by the _Knight Hammer_, the remaining five superdestroyers and their thousands of escorts emerged from hyperspace to shred through the Ori battle groups. There were losses to be sure, but in less than five minutes eight hundred Ori-loyal ships had died.

The fleet elements reformed into six separate spears, each spear made up of a superdestroyer and englobed by escort ships to protect the superweapon until the very end.

Because of the previous hit and run tactics, the Ori forces did not dare leave the station undefended for fear of leaving it open to another sneak attack. And so the only ships that turned to engage the Alliance fleet were the battle groups on the fringe of the binary planetary well.

And still, Alliance ships died. Piett watched on the tactical display as Alliance destroyer after destroyer, frigate after frigate, erupted in flame and died under the deadly assault of the Ori destroyers. Still, they continued. Swarms of thousands upon thousands of TIEs and TIE bombers darted among the capital ships, launching both the resonance torpedoes and standard torpedoes, mixed to confuse the enemy. Without the torpedoes, Piett knew they would not have stood a chance.

Between the torpedoes, though, and the new Asgard shields installed on key ships, they continued their progress. Ori destroyers and attack ships died. Piett noted with a smile how the amphibian-shaped Asgard ships wove through the fleet with the grace of fighters a thousandth their size, slicing easily through former Imperial ships. It was, Piett knew, a mark of the Ori's contempt for Imperial technology that they had made no effort to improve it in their own forces.

And then came the fighters that Luke had warned them about. "Piett to Asgard ships, Ori fighters have been launched and are exacting heavy casualties. Your assistance would be appreciated."

"Understood," came Thor's laconic response. Then extra-galactic technology faced extra-galactic technology as the Asgard mother ships began hunting and destroying the Ori fighters, which could withstand a direct turbolaser blast without ill effect.

Suddenly, they broke through. The space between them and the Centerpoint fleet stood empty. "Full sublight," Piett ordered. "All ships attack. As soon as we are in range, bring all the superlasers online and fire."

"We have ten percent casualties," the _Executor_'s captain noted.

"And we have engaged only fifteen percent of their fleet," Piett noted. "Force preserve us." He raised his voice to address not just his crew, but the whole fleet. "This day is not just for us. This is not just for all the loved ones we have left behind in order to fight this war. What we do today is for our children and grandchildren, for all the grandchildren yet to be born for the rest of time. What we do today means freedom or slavery for the whole of our civilization. I gladly give my life, and I thank the Force that I do so now with you at my side!"

Across all the fleet frequencies and holochannels came the exuberant replies of the fleet. With his chin held high, Piett stood on the command bridge of the greatest ship of the Galactic Alliance and headed willingly toward the gates of hell.

* * *

"Those stave blasts are hard to deflect," Kyle noted wryly.

They had made it almost to the inner surface of the hollow center of the station before being pinned down by a force of thousands of soldiers. Luke nodded his agreement as he, Kyle and Anakin crouched down under the cover of a destroyed monorail transport. The transport had obviously been installed many centuries after the station had been built, and now lay in tattered, beaten remains under the onslaught of the Ori forces.

Kir Kanos joined them, carrying both his repeater blaster and also a stave. "They are excellent long range weapons," he noted when he saw the Jedi's expressions. "I've ordered my men to recover as many as possible. We also have snipers with Tenloss DXR-6 rifles. We're killing men just as fast as we can. But they must have built up a sizable population of loyal soldiers. They're not backing down."

Just then Mara, Ekria and Darana flew over a ridge of twisted ferrocrete and landed beside the huddle. Mara and Ekria both had a stave in their hands and noticed Kir did as well. "They have a nice balance," Mara noted, one professional killer to another.

She looked at Luke. "You took out two hundred bad guys with one of these things. Think you could super-charge one again?"

"That was with Prior DNA still in me. It's gone now. My only power is the Force."

Speaking of the Force, the Jedi felt something and all poked their heads up to see a line of figures in dark cloaks emerging from the line of Ori soldiers. "Inquisitors," Anakin snarled. "Jerec must have brought over the whole organization."

"How good are they?" Luke asked.

"I trained them," Anakin admitted. "A few are of Jedi level. All are dangerous."

"Well, no help for it," Kyle said, lighting his lightsaber.

"Jedi are so stupid," Kir muttered aloud. "All squadrons, open up with your staves on the fools in the cloaks. Use crossing fire, continuous beams."

Two hundred staves opened fire in a criss-cross of solid white lines. With the exception of just a handful who leaped up and away with Force-borne speed and power, the Inquisitors died.

The Jedi turned and stared. "I've been killing Jedi for years," Kanos said, his voice modulated by his helmet. "We don't have time to compare the size of your blades."

Anakin laughed. "Indeed. I think we've played nice long enough." He closed his eyes and sent an image to all the Jedi there of a flying cloud of thermal detonators.

The other Jedi understood and began levitating their detonators toward the enemy. Without any repulsors to detect, the enemy had only their naked eyes to spot the detonators, and unfortunately those tools were distracted by continued enemy fire. So when the detonators started going off, the Ori soldiers were not just caught off guard, but were effectively broken.

"All units, advance," Kir ordered. Anakin ordered the same for the Jedi, and the invasion force continued on its way toward the conical mountain at the heart of the station.

* * *

Piett closed his eyes as he watched Carlist Rieekan die.

It was not an Ori destroyer than killed the _Guardian_, but rather an Ori-loyal star destroyer. Rieekan brought his command ship in line and fired his superlaser on a phalanx of de-shielded Ori destroyers, taking the whole lot out in a single shot. In the process of having his escorts evacuate the fire trajectory, he left a window open for attack. The enemy destroyer actually grazed its starboard side on the superlaser blast, but continued at full sublight with all batteries firing on the super destroyer.

The _Guardian_ attempted evasive maneuvers while the escort ships tried to converge on the intrusion, but the enemy ship was too close for the escorts to fire, or for Rieekan's ship to evade it. Piett and the other admirals watched in horror as the Imperial-II class destroyer flew through a storm of turbolaser fire and rammed into the raised superstructure of the _Guardian_ in a billow of explosive out-gassing and flame. The sheer kinetic energy of the explosion cracked the keel of the _Guardian_ and the ship folded in half, the command bridge swinging toward the emitter of the superlaser at the nose of the ship, until the hypermatter reactor exploded with such overwhelming force that five of the nearest escort ships were engulfed and also exploded.

"Go in peace, my friend," Piett whispered. "Signal surviving _Guardian_ escorts to reinforce the _Lusankya_ and _Knight Hammer_. All ships are to continue forward."

It was a battle of such numbers that no one person could oversee it. Tactical computers and outlying tac observation ships watched, recorded and analyzed, feeding data constantly to the tactical command station over which Piett hovered. What he noticed most were the green dots of the Alliance fleet blinking out of existence, one after the other.

Then came the exultant report from Daala. "I'm in range of the station. I am firing!"

A communications tech shifted the tactical view to that of the station itself as Daala fired her superlaser, only to have the beam interrupted at the last minute by a loyal Ori attack ship that vaporized instantly. Piett had difficulty holding down his disappointment.

"The lane is gone," Daala reported. "We are continuing!"

Piett heard a garbled scream as, to the port, the entire command tower and lower support structure of the _Knight Hammer_ erupted in a gout of flame under the combined barrage of a hundred Ori attack ships. The superdestroyer's escorts fought a desperate action to save the superlaser, which could still have been functional. In fact, Piett noted with pride that the secondary command deck officers fired the superlaser one last time at the station, destroying a de-shielded phalanx of Ori destroyers just before the enemy finished the ship off.

"We must preserve our primary weapons!" Ackbar said over the net.

"Agreed," Piett said. "But we dare not risk clumping together and making a single target."

"There's no help for it but to fight through," Pellaeon said. "This war, gentle beings, is decided here and now. It is all or nothing."

"Then we fight on," Piett said.

"We fight on," the others agreed.


	39. Chap 38: The Gods of Dark

**Tilius**--Thank you!

**master cheif rulz**--Thank you. The finally is approaching very quickly.

**ponypetter**--I'm glad the battle worked for you. It's difficult describing battles on that scale.

**Worker72**--No, it won't last. In fact, it's very possible that every single one of them will die. Can't say for sure, but you just never know.

However, live or die, I promise a happy ending.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Gods of Dark**

With a Force-shove utilizing the combined might of fifteen Jedi, the attack force broke through the final barrier of the Ori soldiers and emerged onto the interior surface of Centerpoint Station.

It was like emerging onto the surface of a star. The glowpoint was a blaze of angry white and yellow light, and the interior of the area was so hot it stole the breath from the Jedi and reddened exposed skin immediately.

"Back down," Anakin commanded hoarsely. Once they had retreated, the Jedi and Kanos banded together to confer. "Colonel, can the armor protect you?"

"It's well within the armor's tolerances," Kanos answered. "We have enough casualties to get armor for all of you, but it won't fit well."

"It's better than nothing," Anakin said. He looked at the others. "The Force can protect us for a time, but we can't allow our powers to be drained. Let's get dressed."

The Jedi quickly put the armor of their fallen soldiers on. Kyle muttered, "Never thought I'd wear this stuff again."

While nearby, Ferus said: "And I never thought I'd wear it, ever."

"At least yours fits," Ekria said. "The bottom of the chest plate almost reaches my knees."

Mara stepped in front of the shorter Jedi, flipped her sword out, and took a large section of the armor off. "Now it's not a problem."

"Can you do mine as well?" Darana asked. Although not as short as Ekria, her armor was still much too long, while not having nearly enough room in other areas. "And what about my lekku?"

With the aid of the Force and her lightsaber, Mara helped the non-human Jedi armor themselves. Da'an was simply an impossibility, but the Ithorian merely shrugged. "It was not so bad. I should be all right."

Once armored, the strike force stepped once more onto the scorched surface of Hollowtown. In the shimmering heat from the glowpoint, they saw scorched fields of grains and homes that had begun to spontaneously combust under the terrible heat. Through the helmet speakers, Anakin said to Luke: "Do you know what is happening?"

"They are powering up the glowpoint," Luke said. "They will need a tremendous amount of power to break through to the Ori dimension. If they do that, then the Ori will be able to come through all at once and take physical forms using matter from their side."

"How much time?"

"I don't know, but not much."

They ran across the surface, surprised to find as many bodies as they did. Most appeared to be women and children. The bodies were on fire, but from the sheer number it seemed apparent the Ori had not bothered to evacuate their followers' families before initiating their project. The men who had been fighting against them had lost their families to their own side.

"There!" Luke shouted. "That entrance over there will get us close to an access port."

"Then let's go!" Ferus said. He started forward toward their target when without warning the Jedi flew up into the air at impossible speeds. He barely had time to scream before his body, which in a second shrank to a mere speck in the distance, slammed into the base of the conical tower many thousands of meters above them.

Anakin and the rest turned, and saw a line of ten Priors standing without any protection, flanking by three of the surviving Inquisitors, who also wore modified crimson storm trooper armor.

"You can come to your final rest, blasphemers!" one of the Ori intoned. "Here, standing in the brilliance of their light, you will know the true power of the Ori, and of we Priors, their chosen servants!"

Luke came to stand next to his father, and both of them knew that this was the first time any of the Jedi had faced the real threat of the Priors. They knew that what they had battled before was a mere echo of the power these beings possessed.

They all turned to look when the broken body of Ferus Olin came crashing back down to the surface. They all felt the swirl of grief from Olana Chion, and all of them reached out to her through the Force, accepting her pain and giving her their strength.

"We can only do this together," Luke said. "And only through the Force."

"I agree," Anakin said.

The Priors as one raised their staffs, and the white crystals at their tips gleamed with the same angry white light as the glowpoint. Behind the Jedi, stormtroopers simply began to collapse. There was no warning from the Force, no sense of danger or threat. Men simply started dying.

All, that is, save Kir Kanos in his red armor. The Imperial guardsman, with feelings of anguish and helplessness, left behind his suddenly, inexplicably dead men and moved to join the Jedi.

The Priors moved closer, their staffs now shining brilliantly even in the already brilliant light. Only then did Luke begin to feel the pressure around him, as if he were wrapped in some type of protective shell. Whatever the priors were attempting to do, they were unsuccessful, and Luke could see the growing anger in their otherwise placid and calm faces.

And then he realized what it was that shielded them. "The Force," he whispered. He turned to Anakin, who nodded. "I feel it too."

"As one, then?"

Anakin and Luke closed their eyes and reached for the power of the others, who gave that power willingly, even joyfully. The two Jedi, father and son, linked by blood, power, destiny and the Force, raised their hands and unleashed a torrent of electric judgment on the approaching priors.

Just like with the Ori destroyer phalanxes, those Priors in the middle warded off the blow, and the lightning slithered down either side of the line of Ori to sink into the bodies of the men on either end. Those men bowed under the assault, crying out in pain as the Force lightning killed them.

The inquisitors leaped into action, only to be caught and smashed with crushing force to the ground by the collected minds of the Jedi.

The eight remaining priors stepped closer and waved their staffs at the Jedi. From above, an arm of white fire looped out from the glowglobe in response to the summoning priors. The Jedi had no choice but to scatter as the meters-thick arm of pure energy impacted the surface and with an ear-numbing sizzle vaporized everything it touched.

Even though they were separated by distance, though, the Jedi were still unified in the Force. From opposite sides of the line of Priors, Anakin and Luke again stretched out their hands and unleashed the full power of the Force. Two more priors died.

The remaining priors brought their staffs together over their heads, and from their tip lashed out a beam of white death. Again, the Jedi scattered. But some were not fast enough. The Zabrak Jedi just recently recruited, Selwyn Morka, screamed as the light hit him in the chest and burned instantly all the way through his body. Behind him, Olana spun with Force-enhanced speed, but was not able to get completely clear. The beam vaporized her leg past the knee. The injured Jedi hit the steaming ground with a cry of agony.

The rest of the Jedi did their best to strengthen each other, and again Luke and Anakin struck. Two more priors died. The remaining four gathered their staffs again to lash out at the Jedi.

Kir Kanos fired his stave at the four. One dropped his staff to stop the stave beam a meter from the four Priors. And that is when the Jedi struck, channeling all of their energy through Luke and Anakin. The two felt their skin burn and their bodies tingle as the power at first filled them, and then flowed in green lightning over the four Priors. With their attention divided, the four were unable to deflect the lightning as before, and finally fell dead to the ground.

Once alone, they rushed to Olana.

"I can't continue like this," she said. "Go without me."

There was no false sentimentality or any desire to be argued with. Olana spoke undeniable truth, and through the Force every Jedi there knew it. Anakin knelt down before her, his helmet to hers. "If you can, get back to the ship," he told her. "One way or the other, joined with the Force or wielding it still, we will see you again."

"I understand," she told him.

The Jedi and Kanos ran to the access port. In the sweltering, deadly heat of Hollowtown, Olana dragged herself toward the broken body of Ferus Olin. The heat that had removed her leg had done so with the same efficacy as a lightsaber, cauterizing the wound completely. The pain was still buried under adrenaline of the wound itself, but she knew it would come.

Still, she dragged herself along the scorched ground that had once been a living ecosystem, with grass and insects, but was now heating up to the point she felt shards of glass forming under and around her.

Finally she reached Ferus. She turned him away from the glowpoint, until he faced her, and slipped off his helmet. Blood poured out from his nose and mouth, but he was still recognizable as the man she had loved for twenty years, but never thought she could marry.

She slipped her own mask off and blinked away the tears that sprang to her eyes, and held her breath as the heat tried to sear her lungs. She leaned over and gently kissed him. "I will see you soon, my love," she said. Then she opened her mouth and took a lungful of superheated gas. Her lungs burned, as did her exposed skin. In moments, without using the Force or the stormtrooper armor to protect herself, Olana Chion joined her love in the Force.

Luke felt her go as they fought desperately toward a transport closet. They faced a mixture of Ori soldiers, priors and former Imperials turned Ori fanatics. Da'an had already fallen to the Priors, and the Rodian Dorn Co'lasht fell to a barrage of stave fire from the soldiers.

Ekria took a blaster bolt in the side but Kir managed to help get a bacta patch on it and the tenacious little Jedi kept fighting on. Tallisibeth also took a wound on her thigh that was partially deflected by her borrowed stormtrooper armor. Like the rest, she kept fighting on.

Finally, they made the closet and poured in. Luke touched a series of hidden control squares as outside the enemy continued to pelt the closet doors with fire. There was a flash of light, and the Jedi stumbled out into the control room where Luke faced the Doci.

And there the new Doci stood, his unremarkable face ashen white, his eyes yellow, his robes of the purest white. Beside him stood a woman of breathtaking beauty, clad in a gown also of white, her yellow-colored hair kept in perfectly curving tresses by a tiara of gold. Around her neck hung a gold necklace adorned with a faintly glowing white stone.

Her eyes were a feral, feline yellow.

"These are the dreaded Jedi?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Honored Doci, how could such pitiful creatures pose any threat to us?"

Luke and Anakin stepped forward with the survivors behind them. They had removed most of their armor, save key pieces. Kyle and Mara stood by Luke, while Tallisibeth and Ekria stood near Anakin. Darana, still panting with her normally red skin a shade of pink with the flush of her exertion, stood next to Kir Kanos. They were all that remained of the invasion force.

"Orici, they knew not what they faced," the new Doci intoned with reverence. "You were yet to be brought into this existence when last a Jedi stood here."

Luke studied his enemy, and felt his father do the same. Her whole body shone in the Force with the same black fire the Ori flames made when viewed through Force vision. The Orici, as the Doci called her, was not a prior. Nor was she human, though he had no doubt she had been born of a human mother. She was a shell holding the power of the Ori themselves. She was a loophole, allowing the Ori to cross the boundary between dimensions.

She was a goddess of darkness.

She raised her hand, and every Jedi there, including Luke and Anakin, felt pressure against their throats strong enough to lift them off their feet. "They are nothing more than insects," the Orici intoned. "Dabbling in things they cannot possibly understand. They shall pay for their arrogance."

Luke, Anakin, Tallisibeth, Mara, Kyle, Ekria, Darana and Kir Kanos. Seven Jedi and a former Imperial guardsman. The most powerful warriors in the known galaxy. Luke's eyes sought those of Mara's as he tried to use the Force to keep his airway open. His struggles were in vain. It felt as if the Force was being denied him, as his throat slowly collapsed.

Luke, Anakin, Tallisibeth, Mara, Kyle, Ekria, Darana and Kir Kanos. Anakin and Tallisibeth stared at each other as their faces turned purple under the pressure. She knew his heart was not wholly hers, and did not care. She had needed someone to love, had needed it for the whole of her life, but that need had been denied by the Jedi. Only after the Jedi fell did she find love, with the one man responsible for that fall. She knew she was going to die, but felt at peace with that knowledge. For the first time in her life, she had been allowed to love as deeply as her soul craved, and she would die grateful for that opportunity.

Luke, Anakin, Tallisibeth, Mara, Kyle, Ekria, Darana and Kir Kanos. The last of the Jedi in the galaxy. The last hope for the Force, for the light; the last hope to ward off the evil of the Ori.

With a flick of the Orici's wrists, eight necks snapped; eight lights darkened from the Force; and eight bodies fell broken toward the floor.

Wasn't that a happy ending? Or is it the end.

Thanks for reading.

D M


	40. Chap 39: The Gods of Light

**Tilius**--Thank you. It's not. This is the last full chapter, plus an epilogue after.

**master cheif rulz--**Keep in mind this is NOT Adria. This is another Orici created like Adria to do the Ori's will. But this Orici was born of a mother in the GFFA. However, that said, glad you liked it.

**Ancient lantean**--It's not, I promise.

**grayangle**--Kir Kanos reminders me of Shaft. He's a bad mofo.

Well, dear gentlebeings, this is pretty much the end of Gods of Dark and Light. There is one more post--an epilogue--but other than that this chapter brings the climax of the story.

A little note about the sequel. It's not really a sequel. I'll post it immediately after I'm done with this one, but I wanted to let anyone interest know what it is.

The story is called Heaven Falls: A Jedi On Earth. It is set 150 years after GOD&L. It is a sequel only in the sense that the events of GOD&L are the canon history I use in the story. It has much more of the Stargate verse in it, but in the end is a multi-verse story set on Earth, featuring a descendant of Nani Delun, and Kyle Katarn. (Yes, he survived. I explain it in the story).

Reactions to Heaven Falls have been mixed. Some have read it called it amazing, while others (including a poster here) have taken a near psychotic dislike to it despite having not actually read it all. So when I start posting it, keep an open mind and see what you think.

In the meantime, I present the climax of Gods of Dark and Light. Remember, there is still the Epilogue after this one, so we're not entirely done.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Gods of Light**

"Wake, my love."

Anakin blinked back tears. He knew that voice; the pure, controlled, beauty of it. He knew it instinctively. Had heard it in his dreams and nightmares for two decades. It was a voice he had loved so much that he had destroyed everything he knew to save it, while in the process destroying its owner as well.

It was the voice of his Padmé speaking to him now. "My love," he said.

He felt a slender hand on his cheek and opened his eyes. There she stood, as slender and radiant as the day she told him she would marry him. Her dark hair hung in furls down the slender neck he loved so much to run his lips over. Her huge dark eyes stared at him in compassion. "I am one with the Force," he whispered.

"Yes."

He bowed his head, and then fell to his knees. Only then did he feel the hard flagstones of a porch. He looked up and saw a stone-paved balcony, and beyond that a lake of deepest blue framed by purple mountains capped in brilliant snow. They were on Naboo, in the lakeside villa where they married and honeymooned. He looked up at her then, crying. "Oh my love, I missed you so much."

Padmé looked down at him with a sad, loving smile. "Ani, I was always with you, trying to talk to you. But you wouldn't listen. Palpatine wouldn't let you. But I have always been there, watching you. Loving you."

Anakin bent down until his hair reached the flagstones, and made no effort to fight his grief. Great, wracking sobs shook his body as a lifetime of anguish and pain came crashing through the gates of his soul. All the deaths he caused rushed across the back of his closed eyelids, and with that rush he grieved for all the years with his wife and children that he could have had, if only he had made a different choice.

He felt slender arms around his back, and breathed in the floral fragrance that she always wore when he came to her. He turned to her as he had so often in their youth, to bury his face in her chest and let the flood of pain pass through him. When at last he looked up at her, he could see himself reflected in her eyes. They were both young again, the same age as when they were married. And she was smiling at him in that special way she used only for him.

"What happens now?" he was finally able to ask.

"That depends on you, Anakin," another heart-wrenchingly familiar voice said. He turned and saw the tall, strong frame of Qui-Gon Jinn standing on the patio, his hands clasped together under the hem of his robe, just like he was so often wont to do.

"Qui-Gon!" Anakin said, pushing himself to his feet. He did not leave Padmé's embrace, though. "Obi-wan said you had ascended."

"I did, young one," the Jedi Master said with an amicable laugh. "As have others."

"Such as me, young padawan," Obi-Wan said, moving to stand beside his former master.

"And me," Padmé whispered in Anakin's ear.

He turned to stare at her. "You're not Jedi."

"All humans of this galaxy are descended from the Alterans," Qui-Gon said, "and so all have the potential to follow the Alterans to ascension. Your wife gave up her life force to ensure her children would be born alive. She died forgiving you for crimes no other could forgive. For this reason, she ascended."

"And the Ori?"

Qui-Gon waived a hand. The lake caught fire, and then was gone as they found themselves before a gate of red gold, looking out into an endless realm of darkness intermixed with fire. "The Ori are the abomination. They are an accident that should never have happened." The scene before them shifted again. A lone man lay dying. Beside him floated an angel—a being of light, benevolence and love. The man's last breath faded, and the angel held out a tendril of light for the man's spirit. The man's spirit rose, but then something happened. Where the angel was a being of light, the man's spirit began to pulse with a dark red flame.

Without warning the flame erupted, consuming the white light of the angel, and then fading from the vision altogether. "It was a man who should never have been allowed to ascend; a man who for reasons unknown kept his true nature hidden for the whole of his life, exposing his evil only at the very end. And from him came all the Ori. But they are more than a threat to this galaxy. Or even to the Universe."

"Exist, they should not," came the high-pitched, dyslexic syntax of Yoda. "Out of balance they throw the galaxy."

"But we cannot truly destroy them," came the hard, unforgiving cadence of Mace Windu. "All we can do is to bring balance to the Force."

"Because, my love," Padmé whispered into his ear, "the Ori cannot overcome the Force in this galaxy. And if the Force is in balance, they will be expelled."

Anakin looked around at the faces from his past. He had disliked some, worshipped others. But now, with a life of pain and suffering behind him, he looked at them all with absolutely, unstinting love. "I am the Chosen One," he said. "I will bring Balance to the Force."

"You will be a god of the Light," Obi-Wan said. "It was always your destiny. You will be the fulcrum on which the fate of this galaxy swings, as it has always been. All that you need to do is to accept that destiny."

Anakin turned to his wife, who stared back at him in adoration. "I have always loved you," he whispered to her. "Even in the darkest reaches of my soul, even while committing the darkest acts of my life, I always loved you. And I love you now more than ever."

"And I have always loved you, my Ani," Padmé said. She leaned up and kissed him, their lips locking together for a lifetime of one minute. When at last they parted, she whispered into his ear, "Now go save the galaxy."

With a flick of the Orici's wrists, eight necks snapped; eight lights darkened from the Force; and eight bodies fell broken toward the floor. One of the bodies, however, did not land.

The Orici had already begun to turn toward the glowpoint of Centerpoint, her arms raised in benediction as she continued to feed massive energies into the already unimaginable energy the great machine was drawing from Talus' and Tralus' gravity. For this reason she did not see how Anakin's body stopped half a meter from the floor, rose, and straightened in the air, still hovering half a meter above the surface. She did not see how his neck popped back into place, and the color quickly returned to his face.

The Doci did notice. His eyes widened as he raised his hand to attack.

Anakin Skywalker, the Son of Suns, The Chosen One, and now the avatar of the Force, raised his hand first and made a fist.

The Doci's body imploded. Every bone snapped. Every organ burst. The death was so fast and violent the man's body simply ruptured.

The Orici spun around, her eyes ablaze, her mouth set in a line of rage. "What blasphemy is this?" she demanded.

The voice issuing from Anakin's mouth was the voice of legions upon legions of Jedi, all speaking as one. "I am the Chosen One. And I have brought balance to the Force. The Ori shall not be allowed to remain in this galaxy."

"The Ori are above the Force!" the Orici yelled. "The Ori are now and always. They are the beginning and end. And I am their daughter. Die!"

Her power was not so banal as to be visible. There were no bursts of flame, dark or otherwise. Her power was that of divinity itself. Her power was of death and life, distilled into a single human-shaped body.

The air itself split. The floor below them crumbled to dust. Walls exploded out around them. The whole 1,000 kilometer length of the station shuddered. Ships that had wandered too close to the rounded center of the station inexplicably crumpled and then exploded. Those soldiers within a hundred kilometers of the room simply exploded into red paste.

Anakin stood untouched, floating a half meter above what a moment ago had been the floor. Behind him, also untouched, floated the bodies of his brethren.

"You said the Jedi did not know what you were, that they had never felt your true power," the voice of legion said from Anakin's lips. "Now I tell you, you have never known the true power of the Force. The ability to destroy even whole galaxies is nothing compared to the power of the Force. For the first time, the Force is in balance. And you, Ori, will taste its full power."

Anakin raised his hands. The Orici raised hers as well, as if bracing for the attack. She was prepared for the petty force lightning she had sensed the Jedi use before. She was prepared for attacks both telepathic and telekinetic. She was prepared for any attack imaginable.

She was not prepared for the Force. It came upon her slowly, building like a dam holding back the flood of her power. It smothered her, slowly drowning out the connection she had with her kin. The stone from the Celestial City she wore around her neck shattered, and the pain of the lost connection burned her. The Force flowed through her body, smothering the fire of the Ori in her veins, killing everything she was and everything she was meant to be. This was not an attack of energy. It was not an attack of violence. It was an attack of healing. It was a flood of cold balm putting out the fire of her power. And she could not defend herself. She could not stop it.

She did not need to try. "You will not win!" she hissed. She turned from him, from the flood slowly drowning out everything she was, and with her last grasp of power, threw herself from the still open window into the air around the glowpoint. Anakin felt her send the last of her Ori power into the glowpoint, and felt the glowpoint reach its critical mass. In the center of the white-hot ball of energy, he both saw and sensed a tiny speck of darkness so pure it shone as clearly as the white light around it.

The barrier had been breached. Beyond lay the gods of darkness, howling to be set free.

He knew what had to be done. It was what he had been born for. Working through the Sith, the Force had foreseen this very moment when it caused him to come into being. Pausing only long enough to wave a hand at the bodies of his fallen Jedi comrades and family, Anakin floated out of the control room of the conical mountain, into the open center of Centerpoint.

He felt a voice whispering in his ear: "I love you."

He smiled, raised his hands, and soared like a bird into the center of the glowpoint.

The battle raged beyond the defenses of the station. Grand Admiral Piett watched as the _Defiant_, Admiral Daala's converted Eclipse-style ship, burned. The entire superlaser had been sheared off by two phalanxes of Ori destroyers, and the ship itself listed badly as the majority of the starboard side and the primary command deck had been blasted clear.

Still, Piett noted with both pride and sorrow, the acting commanders knew the importance of their mission and brought the sublight drives to full in one last, desperate attempt to ram the station.

Two more phalanxes of Ori destroyers joined the effort to stop it.

"All ships support the _Defiant's_ run!" Piett ordered. With resonance torpedoes to destroy their shields, the Ori destroyers were more easily dealt with by the Alliance forces, but "easily" was still relative. Though all twenty Ori craft and their escorts died, the _Defiant_ lost momentum as the superstructure collapsed under its own mass, and the hypermatter reactor finally exploded.

"Piett, Fel, I am in position," Ackbar announced.

"As am I," Fel responded. "We have sustained heavy damage and the Asgard shielding is failing, but we are in range."

Piett nodded. The _Executor's_ own Asgard shielding was gone, and half of his bridge was black with fire. The fact he was alive to stand on the secondary command deck was a testament to the engineers who built his ship, and the emergency force fields that kept them all alive. "We are in position as well. Overall losses are approaching 70. If we don't fire now, we never will."

Piett heard gasps of shock and surprise, and spun around, only to blink under the assault of a flash of bright white. A moment later a handful of Jedi in tattered, scorched storm trooper armor picked themselves off the floor with expressions of shock.

The first to speak was Luke Skywalker. "Admiral Piett?"

"Lord Skywalker, where is the commander?"

Luke ran past the admiral to look at the front viewscreen and the station hovering there. "By the Force," he whispered, seeing something obviously beyond Piett's vision. "Father!"

As Piett, Luke, and the other Jedi watched, the globe of Centerpoint Station began to crack. The crack started in the exact center and began radiating outward along the surface in both directions. Soon it grew beyond a mere crack into a chasm. Sensors were able to spot out-gassing on a massive, almost planetary scale. Bodies, ships and debris flew out from the interior of the station.

Then it collapsed. The whole station began crumpling inward toward the Glowpoint, as if being sucked into a tiny black hole. The process took only two minutes, during which no one spoke, nor any shots fired through the whole theater.

It was Luke who broke the silence. "Piett," he whispered, his still-broken voice barely audible, "order a retreat. All ships are to withdraw."

"But we've won."

"It's not going to stop with Centerpoint," Luke said.

Piett stared first at the Jedi, and then the collapsing structure, pulled his collar, and audibly gulped. "All ships, withdraw!" he ordered. "Admirals Ackbar, Fel, we have received orders from General Skywalker to withdraw immediately."

"Understood," both Ackbar and Fel said. The battered Alliance fleet began to turn their backs on the dying station, riding through the massive clouds of wreckage and debris scattered throughout the system. It was treacherous flying, and more than one ship met its end not under enemy fire, but simply by colliding with another destroyed craft.

Finally, the Alliance fleet cleared the system. Behind them, Piett, Luke, Mara and the others watched as Ori ships began drifting toward the spot Centerpoint used to be. Then the debris and wreckage. The sensors recorded that when the ships and debris reached the exact point where the glowpoint used to be, they simply ceased to exist, as if crushed beyond even gas. Yet, the planets nearby were unaffected, and they could detect no gravitational fluctuations.

"It is a gravity well of the spirit," Luke said as Mara wrapped her arm around his waist. Behind him, Kyle said, "We were dead."

"Yes," Tallisibeth said. Tears ran down her cheeks, and yet she wore the most beautiful, glowing smile any of them had ever seen. "Anakin saved us. He's finally done it. What he was born for. He's become one with the Force. He's ascended into a god of the light."

"A god to defend us against the demons of the Ori," Ekria whispered.

Luke also felt tears running down his cheeks as he felt through the Force his father passing beyond him, beyond even the Force itself. But from that far distance, he felt something more. It was a touch in the heart of his mind and soul. A caress and a prayer. "May the Force be with you," he sensed his father say.

And another voice. "And our love as well," his mother said.

Luke looked down at Mara, who was staring at his unabashed tears with something close to awe. "I heard them too," she whispered.

"Through me. We are all family now," he said, though he sobbed a little as he spoke.

"Does this mean it's over?" Kir Kanos asked.

"It will be soon enough," Kyle said. "We just need to get rid of that gate of theirs and mop up, and that should be the end of it."

"Yes," Luke said. "We are almost done. And we will win. Because the Force is with us."

He stood there, arm-in-arm with Mara, while the other Jedi moved to stand behind them, and they all watched as the center of Ori power in their galaxy was destroyed.


	41. Epilogue: The Seeds of Forever

**Tilius**--Thank you.

**Ancient Lantean**--I appreciate the support. I liked Anakin's end in this one much better than throwing an old man into a pit and dying. It seemed more noble here.

**ILDV**--Thank you.

**master cheif rulz**--Thanks. I wrote this battle before more of Adria's powers were presented in SG-1, so I was taking a best guess at what she could do. Glad it worked for you.

**Grayangle**--I think Kir would probably find a way to carry on. I'm sorry I forgot to go back and put the section separators in, but I think you were able to make the distinctions.

**Worker72**--The Force always existed in the GFFA, even before the Ancients arrived. I posit in this and Heaven Falls that only the Ancients or their descendents are able to harness the Force. Otherwise humans would not ever be Jedi. (In this AU, of course). As for Heaven Falls--the Replicators won't be much a factor. Kind of an off-screen issue. They'll be in it, but not in a major role. Is is authorial bias. I want villains people can either identify with or absolutely hate. Machines just don't do it for me.

Since I'm moving to a new town this week, I likely will not be able to post anything regarding Heaven Falls. For those who are interested, I've set up a topic in my forums where I will eventually post a pretty throrough Dramatis Personae listing all the characters. I have a huge cast, almost all of which are canon or semi-canon characters from other verses. It is not, however, a direct sequel. I stress this so as not to disappoint.

With that said, I present the conclusion of Gods of Dark and Light. Thank you all for sharing this story with me.

* * *

**Epilogue: The Seeds of Forever**

The Battle of Rim Gate, while not as large or as important as the Battle of Centerpoint, was nonetheless historic in that it put a final chapter on the Ori War. The remaining three Eclipse-class super dreadnoughts emerged from hyperspace with a fleet of five thousand Alliance capital ships and engaged the remnant Ori forces, which had gathered to defend the gate.

As the Alliance ships arrived, the gate itself activated, and all present were able to see first-hand how the Ori came to be in their galaxy. However, the reinforcements were able to come through only one ship at a time, and the Ori forces in the galaxy had been reduced to only a few hundred ships. Faced against thousands armed with resonance torpedoes, and three superlasers, the outcome was fairly predictable.

It was a pair of shots from the _Executor_ and the _Lusankya_ that destroyed the gate itself. The Gate was struck while still open, and the resulting explosion was the equivalent of ten hypermatter reactor explosions. The Alliance suffered more casualties from the explosion than from the battle, including the majority of the _Lusankya_. Still, there were thousands of survivors from Soontir Fel's flagship, thanks to the Asgard shielding technology.

With that last spectacular explosion, the Ori were once and for all expunged from the Galaxy.

Eight weeks later, in a newly opened park on the actual rocky surface of Coruscant, amid trees that had not existed just a year prior, surrounded by family, officials, and ten trillion close friends via holonet, General Han Solo—who single-handedly saved over five thousand crew members of a star destroyer by employing a series of suicide-like runs against a phalanx of Ori destroyers—married Princess Leia Organa Skywalker, President Elect of the Galactic Alliance of Free Systems.

"You may kiss the bride," Luke told the happy couple. Luke wore the long, flowing robes of a Jedi Knight, tailored for him by Tallisibeth.

In the first line of chairs on the bride's side of the aisle sat all the Jedi. Darana's new interest of the week sat staring at the young Veltron Jedi as if not even capable of forming any more coherent thought. Ekria sat next to, of all people, Kir Kanos. Kanos wore the uniform of the Alliance, with a colonel's insignia—and a lightsaber at his belt.

Tallisibeth sat wearing her Jedi robes, watching Luke and Leia with the same pride she might have shown her own kids. In fact, since Anakin's passing, she had acted the part of their mother, fussing over them with loving care. "You are Anakin's children," she explained to them a few days before the wedding. "As I loved him, so too I love you."

Luke had hugged her then, without saying a word. Words were not really necessary.

Kyle, of course, sat next to Nani Delun, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder, while she gently bounced her baby Kaylin. She watched the ceremony with a sad, wistful expression, as if reliving her own vows. Kyle also watched intently, his face an unreadable mask. And yet he kept his arm where it was, as if he could shield his ward even against the threat of her own memory.

The droids were there of course. R2-D2 and C-3PO had been through so much, it seemed only natural to have them there. And for the little astromech droid, he was able to put the recording of this new wedding in the same sub-drive file as another wedding he had recorded a quarter of a century earlier.

Droids were not supposed to feel actual emotion, but then Artoo was no ordinary droid, and he expressed his deep satisfaction at this turn of events with a loud chirp and whistle that brought smiles to those who had ever spent time around him.

Leia and Han came together to share a long, passionate kiss which perhaps was a bit intense for many there, but just touched the surface of their true feelings. Chewbacca, serving as best Wookie, roared his approval. Then they turned and proceeded down the aisle toward the pavilion.

The reception went on literally all night. Luke eventually found a nice corner and settled in. Mara forced him to the dance floor a few times, and then shoved him in a corner when he proved that even with the Force as his ally, he still could not keep from stepping on her left big toe during a scherzo.

He was content to watch with a smile and an untouched glass of Alderaanian wine as everyone he knew and loved danced on the floor in front of him. Mara had moved from partner to partner until she discovered that Lando Calrissian, aside from being a scoundrel, thief, and businessman, was also a talented dancer.

Han and Leia danced slowly, her head on his chest and his chin on her head, arm in arm as if no one else in the world mattered.

Darana danced with anyone willing, and the line of the willing wrapped around much of the pavilion.

Even Ekria and Kanos danced, though it was the most serious-faced dance Luke had ever seen. Still, they both moved with the grace of trained warriors.

"It is a moment of joy, is it not, my son?"

Luke turned to see his father next to him. There was no blue halo of a Force ghost, nor hint of any otherworldly powers at play. Rather, he saw a young Anakin Skywalker, his hair hanging in curls down to his neck and his face unblemished by scars or dark emotion.

"It is indeed, Father," Luke said without surprise. "I don't know if I have ever told you how much I loved you. How much it meant to me when you reached out to me when I offered."

"And I can never tell you enough how proud I am, and how very much I loved and cherished you for making that effort to reach me. You are my hero, Luke. And I will always love you."

"And I will love you as well, my son," a woman's voice said from the other side of the corner. He turned and saw a slim figure of profound beauty, with hair like Leia's, but larger eyes and a more slender neck. She looked as if the purest aspects of Leia's beauty had been distilled and perfected into a singular vision of womanhood.

"Mother," he whispered, his still-weak voice breaking now as tears welled in his eyes.

She leaned over and wrapped him in a hug as real and substantial as if it were his sister. "We will always be with you, our son. Just as the Force will be. Be strong. Be wise. Be the husband and father we know you can be. And in the passing of many years, when your time has come and the Force calls, we will be waiting."

"I will cherish that moment," Luke said.

He blinked, and his parents were gone. On the floor, music played and loved ones danced, and Luke knew he was at peace, and the Force at long last was in true balance.

He got up, and with a laugh and motion to get Lando out of the way, Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master, hero of the Alliance and founder of the new Jedi Order, went to dance with his wife.


End file.
